After Pakistan's Champions Trophy title defence ended in the group stage, former cricketer Basit Ali apologised for his statement that the final would be played in Lahore and backed India to lift the title.
Even making 351 runs did not prove to be safe for England as a resilient Alex Carey and explosive pair of Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell helped Australia secure a five-wicket win at Lahore on Saturday.
Duckett smashed 165 runs, securing the highest-ever individual score in the history of the ICC Champions Trophy, but a century from Josh Inglis eclipsed his effort as his century and assists from Alex Carey and Glenn Maxwell guided Australia to a five-wicket win over England at Lahore.
Inglis registered his name in record books, scoring the joint-fastest century in the history of the ICC Champions Trophy, orchestrating a masterclass finish with Glenn Maxwell to guide the Aussies to a five-wicket win over their arch-rivals at Lahore.
The Gaddafi Stadium at Lahore witnessed this unexpected mix-up as the portion of Indian national anthem saying "Bhaarat Bhaagya Vidhaata" was played for around two seconds before the ones in charge of playing the national anthem realised their mistake and halted it.
Australia will finally kickstart their CT2025 campaign against arch-rivals England in Lahore. While both sides have displayed woeful ODI form as of late, Australia has not won a match in the Champions Trophy since the 2009 edition when they defended their title.
England captain Jos Buttler shed light on the tactical reason behind promoting young Jamie Smith to the number three spot and dropping seasoned star Joe Root to fourth in the batting order for their Champions Trophy campaign opener against arch-rival Australia in Lahore.
Australia's ICC Champions Trophy campaign will kickstart on Saturday at Lahore against arch-rivals England, followed by matches against South Africa (February 25) at Rawalpindi and Afghanistan (February 28) at Lahore.
Afghanistan will start their ICC Champions Trophy campaign against South Africa at February 21 at Karachi, followed by matches against England (February 26 at Lahore), and Australia (February 28 at Lahore)
England will kickstart their Champions Trophy campaign against arch-rivals Australia from February 22 at Lahore, with matches against Afghanistan (February 26) and South Africa (March 1) coming later.
Afghanistan will kickstart their ICC Champions Trophy campaign against South Africa at February 21 at Karachi, followed by matches against England (February 26 at Lahore), and Australia (February 28 at Lahore).