Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels Pakistan are the favourites to win the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, being the hosts of the event.

The mega event is all set to be held from February 19 and will be jointly hosted by Pakistan and UAE. Pakistan are the defending champions of the Champions Trophy, having won the last edition of the tournament in 2017.

The Men in Green beat arch-rivals India in the blockbuster final of the event at the Oval to secure their maiden Champions Trophy triumph. Ahead of the upcoming edition of the cricketing event, Gavaskar picked Pakistan as the favourites, mentioning the advantage they hold being the hosts.

"The tag of favourites should be given to the home team Pakistan as it's not easy to beat any team in their home conditions. India lost in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 but before that they put up clinical performances and won ten matches on the trot. Hence, I feel Pakistan are the favourites for the upcoming tournament," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.

Furthermore, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan also shared his views on the squad selection for the ICC event and mentioned how the selectors might give more importance to pace bowling, as the conditions favour seam bowlers in Dubai.

"If we talk about Dubai Stadium, fast bowlers get a lot of assistance there, the ball swings early on. Bowlers also get good bounce from the surface. Hence, the team should have a good seam attack and the selectors will keep that in mind while selecting the team," said Pathan.

India to face-off with Pakistan on February 23

Meanwhile, eight teams will be seen participating in the Champions Trophy, which have been divided into two groups. Group A features India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand while Group B has Australia, England, South Africa and Afghanistan. India will begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 and will play all of their matches in Dubai.

In Pakistan, matches will be hosted across three venues, namely Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi. India will play the semi-final 1 on March 4 and the final of the tournament will also be played in Dubai if the Asian Giants qualify for the summit clash.