India are likely to play a practice match in Dubai before beginning their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign in the UAE. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is working on the practice facilities at all four venues and the schedule for warm-up matches for the eight participating teams.

India has refused to travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Due to this, the United Arab Emirates has been chosen to host all Indian matches in the tournament. A total of eight teams will compete for the coveted trophy. While seven other teams will play in three venues in Pakistan, namely Lahore, Karachi and Pakistan, India will play its matches in Dubai.

Before the tournament, the teams will play practice matches and there were concerns about the timely availability of stadiums in Pakistan as they are being renovated. According to Hindustan Times, the stadiums will be ready for the practice matches and India will play its practice match in Dubai. The report further added that the ICC delegation that inspected the venues did not raise any major concerns about the venues. Pakistan has set a new deadline of January 25, which was originally December 31.

In addition, the PCB has decided to shift four matches of a tri-series involving Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa from Multan to Lahore and Karachi in the second week of February to show that the venues are ready to host Champions Trophy matches.

"The responsibility of the venue lies with the host associations. Even the pitches are theirs to work on, though the ICC pitch manager oversees the process when required," the source said.

"The renovation work is going on as per schedule and the stadiums will be ready before the deadline," PCB said.

The PCB has demonstrated its confidence in timely delivery of the venues by shifting four matches of the tri-series between Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa from Multan to Karachi. The series will be played in the second week of February while the Champions Trophy will begin on February 19 with the first match between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi.