Former England captain picks semifinalists for 2025 Champions Trophy; predicts India vs Pakistan final

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has predicted an India-Pakistan final in the 2025 Champions Trophy, starting February 19. The two teams played in the final of the previous edition of the Champions Trophy in 2017, with Pakistan getting the better of their arch-rivals by 180 runs.

India and Pakistan will play each other in their Group A clash in Dubai on Sunday, February 23. Meanwhile, Hussain picked Australia and England as the semifinalists from Group B, also featuring South Africa and Afghanistan.

He predicted India to defeat England in the first semifinal and Pakistan to take down Australia in the second semifinal. Coming to the final, Hussain backed India to beat Pakistan and win their third Champions Trophy title.

Hussain wrote in his column for the Daily Mail:

"I had Australia down to win the Champions Trophy six weeks ago, but since the loss of their three key seamers and two all-rounders, I now see India as firm favorites.Yes, they are without Jasprit Bumrah, who is the best cricketer on the planet at the moment. Mohammed Shami has also just come back from injury and looked a yard short of a gallop in the games against England."

He added:

"But India have so much depth with the bat, with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, and so many spin options, who are all all-rounders as well. Another advantage India have is that they will play all their matches in Dubai, so they don’t have to travel and will get very used to the conditions."

Pakistan will take on New Zealand in the tournament opener today (February 19) in Karachi. Meanwhile, Team India will play their first game of the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday, February 20.

Nasser Hussain picks dark horse and player to watch for in 2025 Champions Trophy

Nasser Hussain also predicted Afghanistan to be the dark horse in the tournament and picked Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman to be the player to watch out for in the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Afghanistan qualified for their first-ever semifinal in an ICC event in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Fakhar was the Player of the Match in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against India, scoring 114 off 106 deliveries.

In the same column, Hussain wrote:

"While I actually haven’t got them going through to the semi-final, there is a lot of jeopardy in this tournament. If the conditions are there for Afghanistan, they will absolutely be a threat. Under the coaching of Jonathan Trott, Afghanistan have made incredible progress."

He concluded:

"Aside from the obvious stars like Sharma, Gill, Buttler, Travis Head and Kane Williamson, someone I’d like to have a good tournament is Pakistan opening batter Fakhar Zaman. He has been in and out of the side for a variety of reasons, but he is Pakistan’s dynamic hitter at the top of the order and can get them off to a flyer. If Zaman has a good tournament, then his team have got a great chance."

Afghanistan are part of Group B, along with Australia, England, and South Africa. They play their tournament opener against the Proteas in Karachi on Friday, February 21.