Web Desk: Former champions India will not play any warm-up match before the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, Indian media reported on Monday.
According to a report, the men in blue, who are currently hosting England for a white-ball series, will depart for Dubai on February 15, where they will play all of their matches of the eight-team tournament.
The report further suggested that the 2013 champions will not play any warm-up match before the tournament.
The development came two weeks after it was reported that India would play at least one warm-up match against Bangladesh or the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai but the plan has now been reportedly scrapped.
The eight-team tournament, comprised of 15 matches, will run from February 19 to March 9, across three venues – Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi – in Pakistan and Dubai.
India are set to kick off their campaign on February 20 against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Following the campaign-opener, India will lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in a blockbuster encounter, scheduled to be played at the same venue on February 23.
The men in blue will conclude their group-stage fixtures with a match against New Zealand in Dubai on March 2.
India have already announced their 15-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy last month but the availability of Jasprit Bumrah remains uncertain as the right-arm pacer is currently recovering from a back injury.
As per the latest update, the final decision regarding the pacer’s availability will be taken on February 11, the cut-off date for submission of the final squads to the ICC.
India’s squad for Champions Trophy 2025:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja
