Pakistan’s 29-year wait to host a major International Cricket Council tournament ended Wednesday when it won the toss and elected to field in the Champions Trophy opener against New Zealand in Karachi.

The ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will commence in Pakistan on Wednesday with winners of the 2017 edition, Pakistan, taking on New Zealand in the opening match of the tournament

Pakistan spent nearly a decade in the wilderness after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players. Top teams shunned Pakistan after the attack and it took the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) years to convince foreign counterparts that it was safe to visit.