India, Feb. 19 -- After all the drama and controversies, the ICC Champions Trophy is all set to begin on Wednesday, with host nation and defending champion Pakistan taking on New Zealand in the opener at the National Stadium in Karachi. The 50-over tournament will be making a return after an eight-year hiatus. The event will comprise eight teams, picked based on their ranking in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Sri Lanka failed to make the Champions Trophy cut for the first time, while Afghanistan will be making their debut.

1. Return after eight years: There were calls to scrap the Champions Trophy after 2013 and replace it with the World Test Championship, as ICC wanted one major tournament for each format. However, it was reinstated in 2014 af...