Australian team arrives in Pakistan for Champions Trophy

Lahore: The Australian cricket team arrived in Pakistan on Monday to participate in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy.

The tournament begins with a match between hosts Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi on Wednesday.

Pakistan are also the defending champions having won the last edition of the tournament in 2017 in the UK where they beat India in the title clash.

"The Australian cricket team has arrived in Lahore for the @ICC #ChampionsTrophy 2025! They will play their first match of the tournament on 22 February against England at the Gaddafi Stadium," the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) posted on X.

The team landed in two separate groups. The first batch, which included captain Steve Smith, coaches, and support staff, arrived from Colombo via Dubai.

The second group, comprising 15 players and two additional members of the support staff, followed the same route and reached Lahore later the same day.

Like India, who will be playing all their matches in Dubai as per the hybrid model agreement, the Australian team will also not feature in any warm-up matches, as they were very recently involved in a two-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, which they lost 2-0.

After their opener against traditional rivals England, Australia will play their second match against South Africa on February 25 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, followed by a final group-stage outing against Afghanistan on February 28, again at Gaddafi Stadium.

Australia squad:

Steve Smith (captain), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.