Who will be the Top Batter in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025?

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy will get underway in Pakistan from the 19^th of February and showcase some of the best batters in the world.

The last edition in 2017 saw some brilliant batting by the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Fakhar Zaman amongst others. Much has changed since then and the mushrooming of new T20 leagues and advancement in the shortest format has also led to a dramatic transformation in the 50-over format, which is now an extended version of its 20-overs a side cousin!

Will some of the old stalwarts again make a mark in this edition? Will we see the rise of new batting sensations? Before we look at five batters who are likely to have a big impact on the 2025 Champions Trophy, why not check out binance coin casino for a bit of fun

1. Rohit Sharma
Just when the cricketing pundits had written Rohit Sharma off, he came back roaring with a blistering hundred against England in the series-winning performance at Cuttack on Sunday. Rohit hammered a stunning 119 off just 90 deliveries – in an innings that included 12 fours and 7 sixes – helping India maul down a stiff target of 305 with more than five overs to spare!

Rohit is amongst the greatest openers in ODI history and has scored close to 11000 runs at an average of 49.26 and strike rate of 92.7 with 32 hundreds. Amongst the 54 openers who have an aggregate of more than 3000 runs in ODIs, Rohit is the only one with an average of in excess of 50 (55.63) leaving giants like Sachin Tendulkar, Hashim Amla, Gordon Greenidge and Matthew Hayden behind.

Although he has not been in great form in Test cricket, Rohit remains a formidable force in 50-over cricket at the top of the order for India. Virat Kohli may have scored more runs in the 2023 World Cup but it was Rohit who was India’s highest impact batter of the tournament, providing the impetus in the first 10 overs. It was his selfless and destructive stroke-play that was the major reason for India’s stunning dominance in the tournament till their defeat to Australia in the final.

Rohit has a big-match temperament and has raised his game in the two previous World Cups. While he blasted 597 runs at a strike rate of 125.94 in 2023 in India, Rohit was also in blazing form in the 2019 World Cup in England where he was the leading run-getter with an aggregate of 648 runs in just nine innings which included a record five hundreds! India’s chances at the 2025 Champions Trophy will be directly linked to the starts provided by Rohit – the opener in the powerplay.

2. Babar Azam
Babar Azam is another sub-continent great whose horrendous Test form has not impacted his exploits in limited-overs cricket. Babar has not played much ODI cricket since the beginning of 2024 (just seven matches) but has had a reasonably successful run in T20Is in the same time-frame. Overall, though, he is one of the contemporary masters of the 50-over format with the second-highest batting average (56.29) in the format’s history amongst all batters who have played a minimum of 50 matches and scored at least 3000 runs. Only King Kohli is ahead of Babar on this count!

Babar also has a phenomenal record at home and in Dubai and that makes him a big threat at the Champions Trophy. While he has hammered 1481 runs in just 23 innings at an average of 70.5 and strike rate of 94.8 with 7 hundreds in Pakistan, he has scored 335 runs in six matches at an average of 55.8 in Dubai.

Babar is also an excellent player of spin bowling which will make him a sought-after commodity in Pakistan. He has an average of 70.5 against the slower bowlers.



3. Travis Head
Travis Head is one of the most explosive openers across formats in the world and will be key for Australia at the top of the order at the Champions Trophy. Head has a knack of raising his game in the big world events as he showcased in the 2023 World Cup in India – the left-hander smashed 329 runs in just six matches at a strike rate of 127.5 with two hundreds, including a match-winning 137 off 120 deliveries in the final against India in Ahmedabad. Head also smashed a breathtaking undefeated 154 off just 129 deliveries helping Australia gun down England’s 315 at Nottingham last September.

Head has revolutionized batting in the powerplay with his destructive stroke-play in limited-overs cricket. He has a scoring rate of 123.5 in the first 10 overs in ODIs since the beginning of 2022 – it is the highest strike rate in the world amongst all batters who have scored a minimum of 300 runs in this phase of play.

Head was one of the standout batters of IPL 2024 – he was the leading run-getter for Sunrisers Hyderabad and played a pivotal role at the top of the order in hammering his team to the final. The southpaw blasted 567 runs in just 15 innings at a strike rate of 191.55.

Head is a fine player of spin bowling and is particularly severe against leg spinners against whom he averages 53.5 and strikes at 101 per hundred deliveries in ODI cricket.


4. Daryl Mitchell
Daryl Mitchell has had a splendid start to his ODI career smashing 1708 runs in just 39 innings at an average of 50.23 and strike rate of 97.87. He has excellent conversion rate with six hundreds and as many fifties.


Mitchell had a very successful tour of Pakistan in 2023 where he hammered 297 runs in four matches at a strike rate of 97 including two hundreds. That was the turning point of his career and since then Mitchell has been one of the premier ODI batters in the world with an average of 61 and a strike rate in excess of 100! Five of his six tons have also come in the last couple of years.

Mitchell was one of the heroes for New Zealand in their campaign in the 2023 World Cup in India. He scored a whopping 552 runs in just nine innings at a strike rate of 111 including two hundreds – both against host India. His highest impact performance came in the semi-final at Wankhede when he blasted a magnificent 134 off just 119 deliveries giving a real scare to the home team.

Mitchell has been in fine form in the ongoing tri-series in Pakistan and that should stand him good stead at the Champions Trophy which gets underway in a week’s time in Karachi. He is an excellent player of spin with an average of 57.7 and strike rate of 99.9 against the slower bowlers. One of Mitchell’s most productive shots against the spinners is the reverse sweep which has fetched him 90 runs in 68 deliveries with just two dismissals.


5. Heinrich Klaasen
Heinrich Klaasen is one of the most destructive finishers in limited-overs cricket with an aggregate of close to 2000 runs in ODI cricket at a scoring rate of 116.2 – it is the fourth-highest strike rate in the format’s history for a minimum of 1500 runs! His exploits include four hundreds.

Klaasen was in menacing form in the 2023 World Cup in India hammering 373 runs in 10 innings at a scoring rate of 133.21. He was in breathtaking form in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan last December – his last assignment in the format for South Africa.

Klaasen is an excellent player of spin with an average of 46.2 and strike rate of 123.2 against the slower bowlers. He is one of the most feared hitters and finishers in ODI cricket since his debut in February, 2018. Only Glenn Maxwell (strike rate of 185.2) and Jos Buttler (strike rate of 176.6) have a better scoring rate than Klaasen (176.2) in the death overs in this time-frame. Klaasen has hit a six every 9.5 deliveries in the last 10 overs with only Buttler having a better frequency than him during this period.

©Cricket World 2025