Ask a Pakistan cricket fan about cricket's most popular non-Pakistani player and most will say Virat Kohli. The Indian stalwart has never played in the country but his fan following in Pakistan is immense. Pakistan fans were hopeful they'd finally see Virat Kohli play in the country during the ICC Champions Trophy but their dreams were shattered after India's matches were shifted to Dubai. Still, the craze for Virat Kohli in the country hasn't seen a dip.

Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy, a video of Pakistan fans chanting 'Kohli, Kohli', and 'Virat Kohli zindabad' outside the National Stadium in Karachi has gone viral.

Team India Leaves For Dubai

Meanwhile, the Indian team departed for Dubai for the ICC Champions Trophy on February 15. The first batch, including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and coach Gautam Gambhir, among others were seen leaving for Dubai from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai. India are clubbed in Group A alongside Pakistan, Bangladesh, and New Zealand. The team will open their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 before facing Pakistan on February 23. The final league game against New Zealand will take place on March 2. India need wins in two out of the three matches to qualify for the semifinal.

All eyes will be on the big clash against Pakistan. India have enjoyed great success over Pakistan in ICC events, however, Pakistan hold a slight edge when it comes to the Champions Trophy, having a head to head record of 3-2 against India.

India Make Key Changes In Champions Trophy Squad

Meanwhile, India made a few changes to their initial Champions Trophy squad. Harshit Rana was added to the squad after Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out due to injury. India also included Varun Chakravarthy in place of Yashasvi Jaiswal, rewarding the spinner for a stellar show in T20I series vs England.

India’s squad for Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Non Travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube.

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