Why won’t Fakhar Zaman play in the India vs. Pakistan Champions Trophy 2025 match?

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Pakistan substituted Imam-ul-Haq for the injured Fakhar Zaman.

Match 5 of the Champions Trophy 2025 pits India against Pakistan on February 23 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. After defeating Bangladesh by six wickets in the opening match, India is coming off a decisive victory. However, Pakistan suffered a defeat at the hands of New Zealand, losing by 60 runs.

Following their World Cup 2023 match, this will be the first time both nations have faced off in the 50-over format. India won a thrilling match when they faced each other again in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Both sides have a lot riding on this match; a victory would send India to the semifinals, while a loss would keep Pakistan in the competition.

Update on Toss

Imam-ul-Haq replaces Fakhar Zaman on the team.

Fakhar Zaman had to leave the pitch after suffering an injury during the most recent match against New Zealand. He failed to take singles, thus he played solely in the middle order and did not open the innings.

What did the captains’ say at the toss?

Rohit Sharma (India):

Doesn’t really matter, they won the toss so we’ll bowl first. Looks similar to the last game, the surface is on the slower side. We have an experienced unit in batting so we know what we need to do if the pitches get slower. Need an overall performance from the team – with bat and ball. The last game wasn’t an easy one for us, which is always nice. You want to be under pressure and test yourself.

Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan):

Will bat first, looks like a good surface. Want to put up a good target. Every match is important in ICC events, we will keep things normal. The boys are familiar with these conditions, we have done well here and we want to do our best today. We lost our last game, but it is past for us now. One change – Fakhar is out, Imam is in.

Indian playing XIs:

Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (w), Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, and Rohit Sharma (c)

Pakistan:

Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, and Muhammad Rizwan (w/c)