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Champions Trophy 2025 has been delivering some power-packed action to cricket fans with ODI’s best eight sides. Back in 2017, the tournament’s last edition was played in England and Pakistan clinched an 180-run victory against their arch-rivals India at the Oval and became the title-winner in the ODI tournament for the first time. This time, the defending champions are the primary hosts while Dubai will serve as host to all India matches.
What is the format?
The Champions Trophy’s format has been the same since 2006, with eight sides divided into two groups of four. The four sides from both groups will be playing against one another once and the top two from both pools will advance to the knockouts. Each side gains two points for a victory while a single point will be awarded to teams in case there is no result/tie/abandonment.
What are the Groups?
Group A: India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Bangladesh
Group B: Australia, England, South Africa, Afghanistan
Who will advance to the knockouts in case all teams end the table with the same points?
As per the guidelines of the Champions Trophy 2025, the fate of teams finishing in their respective groups with the same points on tally will be decided according to the instruction given below:
- The team with the greatest number of victories will win the higher spot on the tally.
- If there are sides with equal points and equal triumphs in the group, their standings will be according to net run rate (NRR).
- If two or more sides are still equal, they will be ordered to as per the head-to-head game played between them in their pools.
- In case, the above fails to resolve the deadlock, the teams will be ordered as per their original group seedings.
What if there is a tie in the knockouts?
In the semi-final, the team that tops Group A will face the second-ranked team from Group B while the team that reigns Group B will clash with the second-most successful side from Group A. If Team India qualifies for the knockouts, they will face their opponents in the first semi-final in Dubai on March 4. On the other hand, Pakistan will play their semi-final match in Lahore on March 5.
If the semis end in a tie, the teams will vye against each other in the Super Over and the victorious side will reach the final. In case, the match gets called off, the side that topped the group stage will walk into the final.
