It’s time for everyone’s favourite ICC Tournament that you always forget actually exists! Yes, that’s right, it’s Champions Trophy time for the first time since 2017.
Hosts Pakistan welcome the top seven teams from the 2023 ODI World Cup (excluding the hosts): Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa. That list is notably missing Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
It is the first time the former have ever missed the tournament, while for Afghanistan, this is their debut.
The tournament has been plagued by injuries in the build-up, so there are chances for chaos for spectators and great value for punters.
Read on to see what our sporting all-rounder Peter Sharland thinks is worth a punt…
ICC Champions Trophy betting tips
Outright winner – South Africa
Top Runscorer – Travis Head
Top Wicket Taker – Ravi Jadeja
WHEN: Wednesday, 19th February – Sunday, 9th March 2025
WHERE: Pakistan and United Arab Emirates
TV: Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Cricket
Outright winner South Africa
India are the shortest odds to win the tournament, but there are many questions, most notably with their fast-bowling options where Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out with injury and Mohammed Siraj has just been left out.
However, the spinners remain excellent and the batting has the kind of firepower most teams can only dream of. They’re favourites for a reason.
We don’t like an injury-hit Australia, even if they always seem to pull results out in these tournaments and still have Travis Head.
England only have Jacob Bethell missing with injury but watching them in the recent white-ball series against India did not inspire one iota of confidence. We’d recommend staying away from both, especially given the Australian odds do not reflect their weakened bowling attack.
In terms of the middling group (which England really could be part of), we really like New Zealand and South Africa, at around 6/1 or better.
Flashback to Pakistan’s Sarfaraz Ahmed lifting the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy! 🇵🇰🏆 pic.twitter.com/gnwwRhfOap
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) February 16, 2025
If this is a run-fest, you’d think South Africa’s explosive fire-power in the batting line-up could feast, whilst if the scores are lower, that always tends to bring New Zealand into play. Pakistan are similarly priced, but betting on Pakistan in any capacity just feels like a fool’s errand.
Afghanistan are, unsurprisingly, not being considered by many as favourites, with their price as long as 14/1. However, this is exactly the sort of tournament where weird stuff can happen.
They have so many pieces to like, and of course, any team that has Rashid Khan will always have a chance, even if he can get a bit swamped sometimes during these big ICC events. They are 11/1 to make the final and 7/2 to make the semi-finals. Both bets are exciting for us, but the best value play is South Africa because of their powerful batting line-up.
Top Runscorer – Travis Head
There are two schools of thought here. Do you take one of the Indian star batters but risk the idea that the runs might get shared around, or do you take the clear star of another team?
If you like the former, Shubman Gill or Rohit Sharma are our favoured after performing well against England in the ODI part of their white-ball series.
England’s Joe Root has been in excellent form in the SA20. He obviously plays the spinning ball well, albeit he wasn’t superb against India.
However, with so many of England’s other batters seeming a bit lost, he could be excellent value, depending on how far you think England will go.
Regarding wildcards, South African trio Ryan Rickelton, Heinrich Klaasen, and Tristan Stubbs have obstacles, but all are at prices above 20/1, so they all feel undervalued here.
But one other favourite in the market, Travis Head, is too tempting at 17/2 currently and will be expected to lead from the front, given that Australia’s bowling is far from a strength.
Top Wicket Taker – Ravi Jadeja
One thing we have to consider here is Bangladesh. While their bowling is fun, their batting is potentially the least inspiring group in the entire tournament. So look for bowlers in Group A to feast.
Therefore, it’s hard to ignore the Indian spinners, even if they take wickets off each other.
Kuldeep Yadav doesn’t appeal at quite a short price. Still, the other three spinners – Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Jadeja and Axar Patel – are either at 20/1 or 25/1, so you might feel comfortable sticking with him.
For New Zealand, we like Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry at similar prices, for the reasons we highlighted above. With Lockie Ferguson’s fitness still up in the air, we can’t recommend him.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025
It’s tough to recommend a Pakistan option. They could easily win the tournament or lose to Bangladesh and finish bottom of their group. If they go far, it will be down to their trio of fast bowlers: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. If you want to take a flier on any of them, we’d go with Afridi, but again, bet on Pakistan at your peril.
In Group B, Adam Zampa intrigues. He’s the biggest Australian threat, so teams might feel they can try to play him out and then attack the others. Adil Rashid and Rashid Khan, at current prices appeal, as does Kagiso Rabada, at around 16/1.
But, if we get pitches that favour batters, we’ll stick with bowlers with a track record of taking wickets in all conditions. India’s Ravi Jadeja bowled well against England, and his fielding and batting skills mean he should be guaranteed to play every game, which makes him a shrewd play at the price.
ICC Champions Trophy betting tips
Outright winner – South Africa
Top Runscorer – Travis Head
Top Wicket Taker – Ravi Jadeja
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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