Former Indian Batter Suresh Raina caused a buzz among fans after his semi-final predictions for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Raina, former England batter Kevin Petersen, and cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra were asked to reveal their final four teams of the eight-team tournament.
While Pietersen named Pakistan, India, England, and Australia the semifinalists, Suresh Raina picked India, Australia, South Africa, and Afghanistan as his top four of the Champions Trophy 2025.
However, Raina’s prediction created confusion as three of his four semifinalists were from the same group.
For the unversed, Group A of the upcoming tournament includes Pakistan, India, New Zealand, and Bangladesh, while Australia, England, South Africa, and Afghanistan are placed in Group B.
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According to the tournament rules, only two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals of the Champions Trophy 2025.
It is pertinent to note that the eight-team tournament will begin with the opening game between Pakistan, defending champions and hosts, and New Zealand on February 19 in Karachi.
This will be the first global cricketing event in Pakistan in three decades. The last major tournament that the country hosted was the 1996 ODI World Cup, won by Sri Lanka.
India will begin their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign by taking on Bangladesh on February 20.
They will then face Pakistan on February 23 in Dubai after the BCCI refused to send its team to the country for the tournament.
India’s group-stage games will conclude with their third game against New Zealand on March 2.
India squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakaravarthy.
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