Champions Trophy 2025: Empty Stands During South Africa vs New Zealand Semi-Final Clash Exposes PCB's Tall Claims

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is hosting the last match of the 2025 edition of the Champions Trophy . New Zealand and South Africa have locked horns with each other in the second semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy. The winner of the South Africa vs New Zealand game goes on to face India in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai. The Pakistan Cricket Board did make many tall claims about hosting the Champions Trophy successfully, but as of now, all these claims seems to have fallen flat on the face.

The blame of things going completely wrong partially falls on the Pakistan Cricket Team too. The Mohammad Rizwan -led team were eliminated from the group stage itself following two embarrassing losses against New Zealand and India. The PCB had built the entire narrative of the Champions Trophy around Rizwan and his team defending the title infront of their home crowd, but the Pakistan team lacked the X-factor which is required in tournaments of this magnitude.

ALSO READ | How Shreyas Iyer Emerged As a Game-Changer for Team India in Champions Trophy Semifinal vs AUS? Ex-Cricketer Explains

Visuals Of Empty Stadiums Surface During South Africa vs New Zealand CT 2025 Semi-Finals

The second semi-final of the ongoing Champions Trophy is being played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. The PCB had created a lot of hype around the Gaddafi and had endorsed it as a state-of-the-art facility, but Pakistan forgot that they need to fill up the stands for a event with such a big magnitude.

The South Africa vs New Zealand game has had a pretty low attendance and it goes on to show the fact that the citizens of Pakistan aren't interested in the Champions Trophy anymore. This was the first time in 29 years that the ICC had entrusted Pakistan with the hosting rights of one of their events.

ALSO READ | 'INJURED' Hardik Pandya to Miss ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Final in Dubai? Ex-India Cricketer Shares Jaw-Dropping Reaction

Champions Trophy Final To Be Played In Dubai

As per the ICC's mandate, the Champions Trophy is being played in the 'Hybrid Model'. India were meant to play all their Champions Trophy games in Dubai. India are through to the finals of the Champions Trophy and the summit clash will also be played in Dubai.

ALSO READ | 'I'm Not Buying Into It': Steve Smith Denies Anti-Team India Remarks Which Claim Rohit Sharma's Men Being Favoured By The ICC