On Sunday, February 23, India and Pakistan will take the pitch in what promises to be a high-voltage clash during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Set to take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, this contest will see the two finalists from the last edition go toe to toe against each other. While India has won two out of five matches contested against Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy‘s history, Rohit Sharma‘s team will want to make sure they settle some scores in the Dubai confrontation. With the rival team primed to take on this big Group A match, Yuvraj Singh, former Indian all-rounder, and legendary Pakistani cricketers and former captains Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi have given their thoughts as to who will perform best.
The general consensus was Shubman Gill for most runs; Mohammed Shami for most wickets by Yuvraj; Babar Azam’s top run scoring; and Shaheen Shah Afridi’s most wickets by Afridi. Inzamam feels Babar will lead the run getters while Haris Rauf will take the most wickets.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙄𝙨 𝙊𝙣! 🇮🇳🆚🇵🇰 Ahead of #INDvPAK in #ChampionsTrophy, #YuvrajSingh, #NavjotSinghSidhu, #ShahidAfridi and #InzamamulHaq take their picks, in a fun, rapid-fire round! 💥
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 16, 2025
Who will ace this #GreatestRivalry? ✍👇
'𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗥𝗬… pic.twitter.com/qzhGr8ovvy
When asked who would play in the match-defining moment, Yuvraj mentioned Hardik Pandya, while Afridi and Inzamam went for Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman, respectively.
Rizwan is at the moment the captain of the Pakistan white-ball teams, and Zaman is going to open for the Men in Green in an eight-team ICC tournament commencing February 19 in Karachi.
Exclusive to Yuvraj: “Under those Dubai conditions, it would be Pakistan with an upper hand.”
India’s last ODI encounter with Pakistan took place on October 14, 2023, in which they won by 7 wickets, successfully chasing down a target of 192 in just 30.3 overs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
This was in the context of the last 50-over match that was played between India and Pakistan in Dubai, when centuries from Rohit Sharma (111*) and Shikhar Dhawan (114) guided India to victory by chasing down a target of 238 runs in 39.3 overs, winning the match by 9 wickets on September 23, 2018. On the whole, India has won 5 out of 6 ODI matches played at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with one game ending in a tie with Afghanistan.
