Champions Trophy Begins Under Shadow of ‘Tricolour Controversy’: Pakistan vs New Zealand Clash Today
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is starting on Wednesday under the shadow of the 'tricolour controversy'. The first match will be played at 2.30 pm at the National Stadium in Karachi. Hosts Pakistan and New Zealand will face each other. The event is being held on the basis of a hybrid model under the hosting of Pakistan. All the matches of India will be held in Dubai.
Actually, the tricolor controversy arose after the video surfaced in which the flags of all the countries participating in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 were visible, but the Indian flag tricolor was not visible. The video showed that the Indian flag was allegedly not hoisted in the stadium. After which the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was criticized for venting its anger against India for refusing to play the Champions Trophy match in the country.
After facing massive criticism on social media, the PCB said that only the flags of the countries playing in Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 have been hoisted at the stadiums. A PCB source told IANS, "As you are aware, India is not coming to Pakistan to play its matches during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, the flags of the countries that are going to play at the said venues have been hoisted at the National Stadium in Karachi, Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore."
When asked why the flags of India, Bangladesh and other participating countries were not hoisted at the Karachi and Lahore stadiums, the source said, "The Indian team is going to play its matches in Dubai. Secondly, the Bangladesh team has not yet reached Pakistan and will play its first match against India in Dubai. So, their flags have not been hoisted and other countries, which have arrived here and will play in Pakistan, have their flags hoisted at the stadium." The source said, "I don't think the PCB even needs to make an official statement on this. It is clear that this controversy has been created without facts and is aimed at damaging the image of hosts Pakistan through fake news."
Talking about Wednesday's match, Mohammad Rizwan is leading the Pakistan team while Mitchell Santner is captaining New Zealand. Talking about the ODI match between Pakistan and New Zealand, so far both have clashed 118 times. Pakistan has had the upper hand in this. Pakistan team won 61 times while New Zealand managed to wave its flag in 53 matches. Four matches remained inconclusive. On the other hand, if we talk about the Champions Trophy, then New Zealand has proved to be better than Pakistan here. Both clashed thrice i.e. in 2000, 2006 and 2009 and New Zealand won all three matches.
Talking about Pakistan team squad, it includes Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper/captain), Salman Aga, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Khan and Saud Shakeel. On the other hand, New Zealand players are- Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (w), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, William O'Rourke, Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson, Mark Chapman and Rachin Ravindra.
