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Champions Trophy Odds and Tips - India & Australia Favourites For Another ICC Title

By Nikhil Kalro

14 Feb 2025

Nikhil Kalro 14 Feb 2025

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India is favored to win the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy with a strong lineup.
Key absentees include India's Jasprit Bumrah, impacting team dynamics.
New Zealand and South Africa are potential dark horses with strong capabilities.

Virat Kohli of India (Getty Images)

Bangladesh
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
Afghanistan
England
Australia
South Africa
Dark Horses
Favourites

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy is upon us as we enter a busy cricket season with plenty to look forward to.

In this betting preview, we will take a look at the favourites, the dark horses and break down each of the eight teams as they embark on their journey for a coveted ICC title.

Eight teams will vie for the title and USD 2.24 million in prize money, with the Champions Trophy scheduled to kick off on February 19 in Karachi.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh will enter the Champions Trophy heavily underprepared after just completing the Bangladesh Premier League, a T20 tournament back home.

While the conditions in that tournament will be similar to what you can expect in Pakistan and the UAE, there is a sense that Bangladesh are a bit tender in the ODI format.

In terms of form, Bangladesh have lost 24 out of the last 41 matches they have played since 2023 in ODIs.

That period includes series losses against West Indies and Afghanistan. Additionally, Bangladesh will severely miss their talisman allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, who has been suspended from bowling due to an illegal action.

"We are going to the Champions Trophy to become champions," captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said. "All eight teams deserve to be champions in this tournament. They are all quality teams. I believe our team has the ability.

"No one will feel extra pressure. Everyone genuinely wants to become champions, and believes in their capabilities. We are working hard and doing our best. I believe we can achieve our goal."

Our prediction: Bangladesh to finish last in Group A

India

In a short tournament, every team will have to start quickly. India have been caught off guard in this respect in a few ICC tournaments recently. That will be India’s primary focus as they strive to make it two from two in ICC white-ball tournaments.

India will severely miss Jasprit Bumrah in this tournament, who has been ruled out with an injury. However, they will welcome back Mohammad Shami, who has gained match fitness after playing a few matches for India in the recent series against England.

The other questions India have to answer are whether KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant will take up the wicketkeeping duties. Coach Gautam Gambhir suggested that Rahul will continue to keep for the start of the Champions Trophy.

"At the moment, KL is a No.1 wicketkeeper for us, and he's delivered for us," Gambhir said. "And see, when you've got two wicketkeepers in this squad, you can't play both the wicketkeepers with the kind of quality we've got.

"Hopefully, whenever he gets that opportunity, he should be ready for it. That's all I can say at the moment. Right now, KL is the one who's going to start."

Our prediction: India to finish first in Group A

New Zealand

New Zealand enter the Champions Trophy with plenty of confidence and momentum after a strong series of results in the lead-up to the tournament.

Their modus operandi has typically been to compete at the highest level with discipline and accuracy against the odds, as will be the case in this tournament too.

New Zealand will be led by Mitchell Santner, and he will have plenty of resources at his disposal with both bat and ball.

There will also be a sense of relief that his best batters have found form, particularly Kane Williamson, Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell in the recent tri-series in Pakistan.

"Obviously playing one day cricket here when other teams haven't probably been playing a huge amount of one day cricket is nice," Williamson said.

“Having said that, we know that each game is a match in isolation. When you come to a tournament like Champions Trophy, the top eight teams on their day giving the conditions, anyone can beat anybody, so a really competitive tournament.

Our prediction: New Zealand to finish second in Group A

Pakistan

Pakistan have plenty going for them already, including starting off in home conditions in front of their home crowd.

However, as was evident from their loss in the opener of the tri-series, there could be challenges in conditions that are batting-friendly.

Their batters can often be attritional and solid, but that often doesn’t work in the new age of cricket. There are also concerns around the form of Babar Azam and other batters in their line-up.

The bowling seems to be a little short of their best, which has always been Pakistan’s strength. All things considered, that first match against New Zealand becomes even more important.

Our prediction: Pakistan to finish third in Group A

Afghanistan

If you look at the rest of Group B, you will notice that all those teams ply their trade on fast, bouncy pitches.

That is unlikely to feature in the slow, sluggish pitches of Pakistan. Afghanistan, therefore, have a serious chance of beating more than one opponent in this group.

There will be particular emphasis on their matches against England and South Africa, who have struggled against quality spin in ODI cricket for a while now.

Even in the 2023 ICC World Cup, Afghanistan pushed Australia all the way until Glenn Maxwell struck a sensational double hundred.

Afghanistan will, however, miss the services of AM Ghazanfar, who suffered a fracture in the lead-up to the tournament.

Afghanistan still have plenty of reliable players across the board, including Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmad and Fazalhaq Farooqi with the ball.

Our prediction: Afghanistan to finish third in Group B

England

England have plenty of problems in various departments. First, their batting against spin has been atrocious as was evident from their recent drubbing in the ODI series against India.

While their style of Bazball is admirable, there is a case that it won’t always work across the world in all conditions.

However, England’s batters may face some relief against the rest of Group B, who don’t have spinners as incisive as India’s, with the exception of Afghanistan. England have struggled with injuries too, which will only add to their woes.

One reliable factor for England has been their bowling, which has remained disciplined irrespective of conditions. That will be vital in conditions that could either be purely batting-friendly or could even be slow and sluggish.

"Ultimately you're judged on results," coach Brendon McCullum said. "From our point of view, we've got to strip away the fear of failure that results can bring.

"That's what we're trying to do in the group we're building and that's what we'll try and do over the next week as well, give the guys a freshen-up in Abu Dhabi, make sure all the bodies are fit and ready to go, we've got a full squad to pick from come that first game against Australia.”

Our prediction: England to finish fourth in Group B

Australia

Australia are the reigning world champions in ODI cricket, which means there is already confidence after winning the World Cup in 2023 in similar conditions in India.

However, Australia are also coming into this tournament on the back of a series of poor results, which includes a series loss at home to Pakistan and some concerning form against Sri Lanka in the ODIs.

Australia have several injury concerns for this tournament, particularly with their fast bowlers in Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. Their replacements have found bowling rhythm in Sri Lanka but will that be enough in conditions like Pakistan?

"Guys like Trent Boult and Starcy, left-armers who are aggressive, hopefully it's what I can bring to Pakistan," fast bowler Spencer Johnson said.

"I think this wicket is not what we're going to get over in Pakistan. "It was nice to bowl on early with the new ball, and there was a bit of nip and carry. But Pakistan will be different to what we got here, potentially a bit flatter."

Our prediction: Australia to finish first in Group B

South Africa

South Africa have performed quite well in recent white-ball ICC tournaments. They made the semi-finals of the World Cup in India in 2023 before finishing as runners-up in the ICC World T20 last year. Even in Tests, South Africa have now made the finals of the World Test Championship.

This recent run of form and confidence will mean a lot to a side that has historically struggled to close out tight games in ICC tournaments. These conditions may suit South Africa well considering they have quite a well-rounded team, with both bat and ball.

While South Africa haven’t played that much ODI cricket recently, apart from a short tri-series in Pakistan in the lead-up to the tournament, there is enough skill in this team across the board to challenge any team from the outset.

Our prediction: South Africa to finish second in Group B

Dark Horses

In an eight-team tournament with few matches, the initial phase becomes crucial. This is where the dark horses come in. We have two dark horses to keep an eye out for: South Africa and New Zealand.

Both teams can often perform admirably on the international stage irrespective of conditions. Importantly, both these teams who have match-winners through their team even though they prefer to play different forms of ODI cricket.

We feel that in Pakistan conditions, South Africa have enough firepower in their batting to challenge bowlers across the world. There is also enough in their spin-bowling department to ace horses-for-courses conditions.

New Zealand, on the other hand, will prefer to play methodical cricket based on what the day offers. That has worked wonders for them in ODI cricket for a few years now.

Form is not a concern for many of their players, which means they could upset the applecart with a win against Pakistan in the opener of the Champions Trophy on Wednesday.

Favourites

Australia have historically been the kings of ICC tournaments after West Indies’ initial run in the ODI World Cup.

Australia have always proven to be worthy challengers for a title in the sub-continent because of their ability to perform under pressure with resources that can be matchwinners at any point of a game.

If they finish at the top of Group B, they may miss India (if they qualify), which could set this Champions Trophy up for a repeat of the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup final.

Verdict

ICC Champions Trophy

We’re going to go with India to win the Champions Trophy. There is a major miss in Jasprit Bumrah, who will remain absent during this tournament, but India have so many bases covered as was evident during their series win against England with enviable ease.

The return to form for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bodes well for their batting unit while Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja’s presence in the middle order as allrounders will hold their balance in good stead.

There are a few contenders that can challenge India but there aren’t too many teams that can hold off this Indian team when in full flow.