Champions Trophy 2025 squads of teams competing in Pakistan and UAE

With one month to go for the long-awaited comeback of the Champions Trophy, anticipation is building for the tournament that is short in duration but big on ambition.

The 50-over contest, split between hosts Pakistan and the UAE, begins on February 19 and will bring together the top eight teams in the world. They will fight for an ICC trophy that had been put on the back burner following the advent of T20 cricket and then brought back again, possibly for its unique charm of being a short 50-over event in the vast savannah of T20.

The happiest among all teams will be Pakistan, who are getting to host their first ICC tournament of the 21st century. It will mark the definitive return of international cricket to Pakistan's territory following years of isolation and irregular tours.

However, they will have to share hosting duties with Dubai as India have refused to travel to Pakistan owing to lack of clearance from its government due to political tensions.

Anyhow, it is quite apt that major cricket is returning to Pakistan in the form of the Champions Trophy; Pakistan were the winners when the event was last held in 2017.

There will be other hopefuls as well. Below is the list of the squads of seven of the eight participating teams.

There are a few notable absentees. South Africa quick Anrich Nortje has been ruled out due to injury, while India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been picked subject to fitness. Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das have been dropped due to poor form.

Meanwhile, hosts Pakistan are yet to announce their squad.

Champions Trophy 2025 squads

Australia: Pat Cummins (captain), Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

England: Jos Buttler (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah*, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja

South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje**, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen

New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Naveed Zadran, Farid Ahmad Malik

Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Towhid Hridoy, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Parvez Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan, Nahid Rana

* Bumrah availability subject to fitness

** Nortje injured. Replacement yet to be announced

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Champions Trophy 2025 squads of teams competing in Pakistan and UAE

The 50-over tournament kicks off in Karachi from February 19

Champions Trophy 2025 squads