Champions Trophy 2025: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has written to the International Cricket Council (ICC) seeking reasons behind India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan to play the ICC Champions Trophy next year, Geo News reported on Tuesday.
Due to tense political ties between both nations, India has not travelled to Pakistan since 2008, when they played the Asia Cup over there. India has firmly held the stance of not travelling to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy, citing ‘security concerns’.
Earlier this year, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla stated that India would travel to Pakistan only if the Government of India permitted it. Recently, ICC conveyed to the PCB in writing that India won’t travel to Pakistan to participate in the marquee event which will be held in Pakistan in the early months of 2025.
The PCB consulted with the Pakistan government on the issue and is looking to present a firm stance on the matter. “If India’s participation contributes to ICC’s revenue, the PCB’s role is equally crucial, and without Pakistan-India matches, the ICC revenues would suffer significantly,” sources told Geo News.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has requested the ICC to conduct the match of the Indian Cricket Team on a hybrid model with the final to likely take place at Dubai International Stadium in the UAE.
But last week, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi shrugged away the possibility of hosting the tournament in a hybrid model by claiming that there have been no discussions about hosting the tournament in a hybrid format.
On Tuesday, sources reported that South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerged as possible venues for hosting the Champions Trophy in 2025 if Pakistan pulled out at the last moment.
If the tournament is shifted, there are also chances that Pakistan could withdraw from the tournament if ICC moves the tournament to a neutral venue, according to recent reports.
India and Pakistan played their last bilateral series in 2012-13 in India, a white-ball series and now mostly play in ICC tournaments and Asia Cups.
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