When the ICC Champions Trophy was first created in 1998, it was seen as an excellent way for associate nations to boost the popularity of cricket in their country by hosting the tournament. The first two editions took place in Bangladesh and Kenya.
27 years on, and the tournament does not fulfil the same role it once did. The competition is now consistently held in established Test-playing nations.
But as it is an ICC competition, teams are still desperate to win the trophy, further their legacy, or start building the foundation for their World Cup campaign in two years.
So, all eight sides have pulled no punches and put together strong squads, with some of the world’s best white ball players participating.
But everyone knows the Rohit Sharmas, the Steve Smiths, and the Joe Roots.
We have compiled a list of eight payers—one from each side—that you should watch out for.
Some of them are lesser-known to many, but they could well play a huge role in this tournament.
So, without further ado, here are VAVEL’s ones to watch for the Champions Trophy
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Afghanistan – Sediqullah Atal
While not expected to pull up any trees on their Champions Trophy debut, Afghanistan are a team who are unwise to bet against.
In Group B alongside England, Australia and South Africa, the Asian side’s presence in the tournament is a pretty large elephant in the room amidst the Taliban government’s ongoing ban on women’s cricket.
Regardless of protests, the perennial underdogs of international cricket have arrived in Pakistan keen to concentrate on their cricket.
In keeping with tradition, their squad is resplendent with young talent, too.
One such prodigy is Sediqullah Atal, a top-order batsman who has taken to the international scene like a duck to water since his November 2024 debut.
The 23-year-old played as an opener in his first six ODI appearances but gave way to the returning Ibrahim Zadran in recent warm-up fixtures, moving to number three and making 52 off 42 balls against New Zealand.
In December 2024, the standout performance of Atal’s nascent international came with a classy innings of 104 off 128 balls, followed by three slip catches, to pummel Zimbabwe in Harare.
The tall left-hander already boasts an ODI average of 46, while his T20 flair – which saw him become the top run scorer at the 2024 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup and then help MI Cape Town to their recent SA20 title – has won him many admirers.
With a key role awaiting him in the Afghanistan set-up for years to come, Atal can announce himself even further at this Champions Trophy.
Written by Will Hugall
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Australia - Nathan Ellis
Australia rebuild their pace attack
When you think of Australian pace bowlers, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all come to mind.
However, the legendary trio are not in Australia’s squad for the Champions Trophy – the first time this has happened for an ICC tournament since 2011.
Consequently, those behind them often fade into the background, but for the next couple of weeks in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, they have been thrust into the spotlight.
One of those players is Nathan Ellis.
The 30-year-old seamer arrived late to the international scene in 2021 but already has 44 wickets from 29 caps. 12 of those have come in 50-over cricket, with figures of 2/23 in his most recent appearance against Sri Lanka.
His ability to offer control and be a wicket-taker at various stages of an innings lends itself to the longer format of short-form cricket and makes him a dangerous prospect to opposition batters, especially at the end of an innings where he thrives the most.
Ellis’ performances in that period could significantly shape Australia’s campaign as they chase another ICC title.
Written by Harrison Burridge
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Bangladesh - Nahid Rana
For all of Bangladesh’s history as a cricketing nation, their major strength has been spin bowling, as quality fast bowlers were few and far between.
Their seam attacks have contained medium pacers who, whilst handy, were far from a serious threat. Although, in recent years, it has significantly improved, with the likes of Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed capable of hovering around 140kph.
However, neither are out-and-out express pacers, a skillset that Bangladesh has never had.
That was until 12 months ago when Bangladesh added a shiny new weapon to their arsenal: Nahid Rana.
The 22-year-old is slender but extremely tall and stands at a towering height of 6 feet and 5 inches. Most crucially, though, he can consistently bowl at speeds in excess of 90mph, making him his nation’s fastest-ever bowler.
He debuted less than a year ago, but in his short career, he has already spearheaded his country to three Test victories, all away from home. This includes a 2-0 whitewash in Pakistan and a series-levelling performance at Sabina Park.
He has swiftly become an elite strike bowler, often dismissing the world’s best batters such as Babar Azam and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
In his three ODI games so far, he has only taken four wickets, but there is every chance his extreme pace will trouble batters with the white ball very soon.
If he can stay fit, Rana could be the key to Bangladesh's success overseas and perhaps this time in a major ICC tournament.
Written by Huzaifa Yousafzai
England - Tom Banton
Banton’s late England call-up
A few weeks ago, Tom Banton was happily playing in the ILT20 in the UAE and putting in some astounding performances. The 26-year-old was averaging 55, with two centuries and three fifties. He was barely a flicker in England’s eye.
But when supremely talented youngster Jacob Bethell went down with a hamstring injury and was ruled out of the Champions Trophy, Banton got the call from Brendon McCullum to join up with the squad.
While the call to bring in a wicketkeeper/batter to replace a batting all-rounder has been met with scepticism, England fans should be excited, as the top-order batsman has been quietly developing into one of the country's finest white ball players.
This is not Banton’s first time playing for his country. Back in 2020, he played six times in ODI cricket for the then-world champions but struggled to make a genuine impact in those games and was dropped after a tepid series against Ireland.
But now he’s back, and this time with a swashbuckling and somewhat carefree style that makes him a perfect fit for this iteration of England.
Expect the Somerset batter to come in high in the order and look to take the game away from the opposition early with some 360-cricket in the style of his childhood hero, Jos Buttler.
Written by Matthew Shotter
India - Varun Chakravarthy
India turn to spin in Dubai
India's head coach, Gautam Gambhir, boldly chose to replace the man who many believe to be the future of Indian cricket, Yashasvi Jaiswal, with 33-year-old leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy in his Champions Trophy squad.
At first glance, the decision seems shocking and risky, but if you dig a bit deeper, you'll see that it makes complete sense.
India are expecting pitches to spin in Dubai and feel that they are covered in the pace bowling department.
However, they felt they lacked depth in spin despite having the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel.
An injury to one of them or a sudden loss of form would result in them not having an adequate replacement in the squad and could derail any chance of winning back-to-back ICC tournaments.
Chakravarthy may not play every game in the competition, but given India’s potential reliance on spin throughout this tournament, a spinner will likely need to bowl at the death.
Chakravarthy would very much be able to do this with his clever changes of length and pace and the variations he has in his arsenal.
Should Gambhir choose to use the experienced spinner, there is every chance he could end up being vital.
Written by Matthew Shotter
New Zealand - Nathan Smith
Despite coming into the tournament as the ICC’s fourth-ranked men’s ODI side, New Zealand only sit sixth favourite amongst most UK bookmakers.
While most of their stars are available in Pakistan, the 2024 retirement of Trent Boult has undoubtedly weakened their bowling attack and has prompted a reshuffle from head coach Gary Stead to plug a big wicket-taking gap.
While Matt Henry and Will O’Rourke will head up the pace department, the key middle-over role will seemingly fall to Nathan Smith.
The 26-year-old medium-fast bowler is a familiar name to those who follow the English county circuit, with his 2024 season for Worcestershire producing 27 red ball wickets at 21.14 and eight wickets in nine T20 Blast games before a hamstring injury curtailed his spell.
This prompted Surrey to steal him from under the Pears’ noses for 2025 and finally prompted the Kiwis to give Smith his chance; debuting in Test and ODI cricket in November 2024.
With just six ODI caps at this stage, Smith is not an automatic pick – especially in dry subcontinental conditions – but a mean line and length, and a List A batting average of 24.15, suggest he can be an effective all-rounder.
If New Zealand are to go far in the tournament, Smith could be instrumental.
Written by Will Hugall
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Pakistan - Salman Ali Agha
Going into the Champions Trophy as title holders, albeit seven years ago, Pakistan have regularly won ODI matches on the back of their formidable top three, with Fakhar Zaman, Imam Ul Haq, Babar Azam and more recently Saim Ayub all averaging in excess of 45 in the 50-over format.
However, starboy Ayub is out injured, Fakhar and Imam just recently returned to the squad and Babar is no longer in the mercurial form that he once was.
Thus, much of the run-scoring burden has shifted towards the middle order.
This middle order isn’t what it used to be; the days of Younis Khan, Inzamam Ul Haq and Muhammad Yusuf are long gone.
Instead, Mohammad Rizwan has recently held these batting spots together, and the new white ball skipper cannot do it all on his own.
Fortunately, Salman Ali Agha's emergence has greatly aided Pakistan in all formats.
Having debuted as a handy lower-order batter who bowls off-spin, Agha has now developed into a regular number five, averaging nearly 46 across 33 ODI games.
He has developed a knack for winning matches with the bat, including an excellent 131 in the recently concluded tri-series against South Africa.
In a tournament where the middle overs are very likely to decide games, Agha’s contribution with both bat and ball could go a long way to deciding how Pakistan’s tournament goes, their first in front of home fans since 1996.
Written by Huzaifa Yousafzai
South Africa - Ryan Rickelton
28-year-old Ryan Rickelton has made his mark on South African cricket in recent months, with a record-breaking 259 in his 10th Test as he put Pakistan to the sword at Newlands.
Despite playing only six ODIs in a Proteas shirt, Rickelton will likely be a prominent figure in South Africa’s top order during the Champions Trophy.
Educated at St Stithians in northern Johannesburg, Rickelton was named Cricket South Africa’s U15 Player of the Year in 2012.
Despite missing out on selection at the 2014 U19 World Cup, Rickelton made his first-class debut for Gauteng in 2015, playing against fellow Proteas squad members Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram. He scored a combined seven runs in his two innings, including a first-innings duck.
Fast-forward 10 years, Rickelton is starting to show his talent to the world with gloves and bat.
A versatile batter who can switch through the gears effortlessly, he has an ODI high score of 91 to his name, but his glovework has also caught the eye, appearing tidy behind the stumps, even if he is likely to play second fiddle to Klaasen in that department.
Overall, despite blossoming later in his career, Rickelton will likely play a significant role in the Proteas' top order. He will be looking to build on his strong form at the end of 2024 and transfer it to the first major tournament of 2025.
Written by Ollie Fitch
