Champions Trophy 2025 : Not India! Sunil Gavaskar Backs THIS Asian Giants To Win Tournament

Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has made a bold prediction for the 2025 Champions Trophy, naming Pakistan as the favorites to clinch the title.

Despite India's strong performances in recent tournaments, Gavaskar believes that Pakistan's advantage of playing on home turf will give them a significant edge.

The tournament will be held in a hybrid format, with most matches hosted in Pakistan, except for those involving India. Following the BCCI's decision to not travel to Pakistan, the ICC arranged for India's matches to be played in the UAE.

While Gavaskar didn't pick India as the winner, he highlighted their stellar performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup, held on home soil, where they dominated the group stages before falling short in the final. Despite India's strong campaign, they were defeated by Australia in the final match in Ahmedabad.

"The tag of favourites should be given to the home team Pakistan as it's not easy to beat any team in their home conditions. India lost in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 but before that they put up clinical performances and won ten matches on the trot. Hence, I feel Pakistan are the favourites for the upcoming tournament," Gavaskar said.

The Champions Trophy 2025 will begin on February 19, with Pakistan taking on New Zealand in Karachi. The final is set for March 9 and will be held in either Dubai or Lahore, depending on India's progress in the tournament.

Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, while India were the runners-up in that 2017. The Men in Blue are the winners of the 2002 and the 2013 edition.

India's Champions Trophy Squad : Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.