The next edition of ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled to be held on Feb-March 2025 in Pakistan. The competition is making its return after 8 years. Only eight teams will be participating in the tournament. Hosts Pakistan and the next seven best teams in the ICC ODI ranking will play the event.

The big news is, Sri Lanka, joint champions in 2002 and one of the prominent cricketing nations, are in serious danger of missing out the 2025 edition. They can make it to the main event only if they finish inside top 8 in ICC ODI ranking before cutoff date. And the cutoff date is very soon (most likely before September). Currently the 8th place is held by Afghanistan (with 88 ratings). Sri Lanka are 9th with 80 ratings. West Indies are 10th with 72 ratings. Bangladesh comfortably sit ahead of all contemporaries at 7th with 98 ratings. So, the actual battle is between these mentioned teams for the last two spots.

Sri Lanka have never missed out any edition of Champions Trophy till now. Meanwhile, Afghanistan will be hoping to make their debut in 2025. West Indies, champions in 2004, have already missed out in 2017, and will need a lot of wins to stay in the hunt for 2025. Bangladesh, having made it to semis in 2017, would be hoping to inch even closer to the title this time.

After their loss in the first ODI against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka have themselves to blame as the ratings margin has widened further. Sri Lanka are having a forgettable time in ODI cricket since the resumption of cricket after COVID outbreak. They have managed to win only 10 out of the 32 ODIs they played in the period. Their ODI Super League campaign was equally worse. With just 7 wins in 24 games, they finished the league at 10th. This led to their participation in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, which starts from 18th June in Zimbabwe. Only a top 2 finish there can earn them a spot in the World Cup. On the other hand, Afghanistan have won 12 out of 16 ODI they played since that resumption. Also, they directly qualified for the World Cup 2023 by finishing 7th in ODI Super League.

For Sri Lanka to present a strong case for Champions Trophy qualification, they must have a seriously good outing in the upcoming CWCQ and more importantly, they must avoid defeats to associate nations. Even a single defeat to associate nations will do a colossal damage to their rankings. Sri Lanka don't have any scheduled ODI matches apart from CWCQ matches till the cutoff date. At the same time, they would also be hoping to see Afghanistan lose few points when they face Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and India (not confirmed as of today) in the coming months.