As the Champions Trophy 2025 sits on the horizon, teams are in their final preparations for the global tournament. With all the ODIs between the participating nations done and dusted, some of the teams are featuring in the practice games in the last fine-tuning ahead of the tournament.
Pakistan, New Zealand, and South Africa recently played a tri-nation series. The Kiwis triumphed to clinch the series title. They defeated Pakistan in the final on Friday, February 14, as they ticked off the majority of their boxes in the lead-up to the tournament.
The Men in Green have suffered a blow to their ICC ODI rankings ahead of the Champions Trophy. Pakistan dropped from second to third in the latest rankings, which were updated on February 14.
Notably, Australia are up a place from third to second after Pakistan's decline. The Men in Green have seen a four rating-point drop from 111 to 107 in the latest rankings, while the Aussies now have 110 ratings from 111 they had earlier. The Aussies were recently thrashed by Sri Lanka 2-0 in the ODI series in the build-up to the 50-over global tournament.
Meanwhile, New Zealand have maintained their fourth spot in the rankings and have a rating boost from 102 to 105 after their win in the tri-series.
India are the top-ranked team in the ICC ODI rankings with 119 ratings from 48 matches. Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa (in that manner) round up the top five.
| Position | Team | Matches | Points | Rating |
| 1 | India | 48 | 5726 | 119 |
| 2 | Australia | 44 | 4826 | 110 |
| 3 | Pakistan | 39 | 4176 | 107 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 42 | 4414 | 105 |
| 5 | South Africa | 41 | 4091 | 100 |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 60 | 5954 | 99 |
| 7 | England | 39 | 3569 | 92 |
| 8 | Afghanistan | 39 | 3365 | 86 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 46 | 3730 | 81 |
| 10 | West Indies | 41 | 3185 | 78 |
Four teams are playing in the warm-up matches ahead of the tournament with Pakistan's A team, known as Pakistan Shaheens, also featuring in it.
Check the schedule for the warm-up fixtures:
14 February – Pakistan Shaheens v Afghanistan, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
16 February – New Zealand v Afghanistan, National Stadium, Karachi
17 February – Pakistan Shaheens v South Africa, National Stadium, Karachi
17 February – Pakistan Shaheens v Bangladesh, ICC Cricket Academy, Dubai