Champions Trophy set for liftoff after India-Pakistan row, boycott calls

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KARACHI: The Champions Trophy began on Wednesday after a turbulent construction, which saw that the tournament was divided between Pakistan and Dubai, and faced calls with England to boycott their match against Afghanistan. It was

The program, which ranks second after the World Cup in one -day game, runs until March 9 and is the first world cricket tournament hosted by Pakistan in almost three decades. However, the financial superpower of the game will be played in the United Arab Emirates after a long -term political tension refuses to meet his neighbor.

A month -long halt ended in December when the International Cricket Council said India would play its game in Dubai. This increases the chances of a showpiece final of eight countries instead of Pakistan, if India gets so far-a good opportunity is given that they are favorite to lift the trophy.

Arc Revolution India and Pakistan, who face international competitions only because of politics, had a clash in Dubai on February 23 in the group stage. England plays Afghanistan three days later in a match in Lahore, which has faced response in some constituencies in the UK.

More than 160 British politicians demanded boycott in response to the Taliban government ban on women in the game. England’s Cricket Board Chairman Richard Thomson expressed his commitment that the match would move forward, saying that the cricket community’s “integrated international response” would gain more than one -sided action.

The Champions Trophy will be Pakistan’s first ICC event after hosting the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka in 1996. Karachi and Rawalpindi are the second Pakistani cities to compete with sports.

After the Sri Lankan squad on a tour of Sri Lanka was attacked by gunmen in 2009, Pakistan became a new area for foreign teams, killing eight people and injuring several tourist players. But with better security in most parts of the country, international cricket returned to Pakistan in 2020.

India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh are one of the groups and Group B in Australia, England, Afghanistan and South Africa. Two teams from each group qualify for the semi -finals in Dubai and Lahore.

Pakistan Champion is ruling, they have defeated India in the final in 2017 in Oval in London. But these are the two -time winners of India, which is a favorite, with superstar batsman Virat Kohli hopes he will overcome the poor run of his sky’s high quality form.

This may be the last 36 -year -old storm on the international stage, while Captain Rohit Sharma is also likely to retire after the tournament. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar told AFP, “India is playing brilliant all -round cricket and so are the Champions Trophy’s favorite choice.”

“Other teams, in my opinion, are to see the champions Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa.” However, India will disappear the spare head of the PACE PACE. Australia defeated host India to win the one -day World Cup in 2023, but they miss many important players.

Their sharp attack on Pat Commons, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazel Wood has all ended. With the sudden retirement of Marx Stonis’ ODIs and injury to Mitchell Marsh-the key all-rounder-and Australia suddenly look weak.

He was well defeated 2-0 in Sri Lanka in a two-match series last week. Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy. Pakistan will open the ninth edition of the Champions Trophy with a match against New Zealand in Karachi on Wednesday.

The co -hosts are unexpected, as they showed in the final edition of the tournament, defeating India for 124 runs in the opening match before winning the final by 180 runs. England go to the competition under the cloud, which India took the lead in both the T20 and the ODI series.

With the standard spinners led by Rashid Khan, Afghanistan is dangerous. He surprised England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the 2023 ODI World Cup and reached the semi -finals of the T20 World Cup last year.