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India will face arch-rivals Pakistan in the high-voltage ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, February 23.
Yuvraj Singh and Shahid Afridi make predictions for the India-Pakistan Champions Trophy 2025 match. (Picture Credit: Screengrab, AFP)
India will face Pakistan in the high-voltage ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match on Sunday, February 23. The match between the two finalists of the last edition is scheduled to take place at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India has won two out of five matches played so far against Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy, and the Rohit Sharma-led side will be eager to settle the scores in Dubai. Ahead of the big Group A match between the two archrivals, former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and legendary Pakistani cricketers and former captains Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi have made their predictions for the top performers in Sunday’s match.
According to Yuvraj, Shubman Gill will score the most runs in the match, and Mohammed Shami will dismiss the most batters, whereas Afridi has backed Babar Azam to finish as the leading run scorer and Shaheen Shah Afridi to take the most wickets. Inzamam, on the other hand, also feels that Babar will top the run scorers list and Haris Rauf will finish with the most wickets.
The former greats were also asked which player will be involved in the match-defining moment, to which Yuvraj replied by mentioning Hardik Pandya’s name, whereas Afridi and Inzamam picked Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman, respectively.
Rizwan is the current captain of Pakistan’s white-ball teams, whereas Zaman is all set to open for the Men in Green in the eight-team ICC tournament starting from February 19 in Karachi.
When asked about which team will have the upper hand going into Sunday’s match, Yuvraj said, “In those Dubai conditions, Pakistan would have an upper hand.”
India last played an ODI match against Pakistan on October 14, 2023, and in the ODI World Cup 2023 fixture at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the Rohit Sharma-led side hammered Babar Azam & Co. by 7 wickets after chasing down the target of 192 runs in 30.3 overs.
In the last 50-over match played between India and Pakistan in Dubai, India rode on centuries from Rohit Sharma (111*) and Shikhar Dhawan (114) to chase down the target of 238 runs in 39.3 overs and win the match by 9 wickets on September 23, 2018. Overall, India has won five out of six ODI matches played so far at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, and one game against Afghanistan ended in a tie.
