BCCI has informed ICC that India won't travel to Pakistan for 2025 Champions Trophy: Reports
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly informed the International Cricket Council (ICC) that the Indian team won't travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy. The report comes a day after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi said in a press conference that Pakistan has not received any official communication from the BCCI.
The latest edition of the Champions Trophy was scheduled to be held in Pakistan from February 19 to March 9, 2025. However, uncertainty remained over India's participation in the tournament. The Men in Blue last visited Pakistan in 2008 for the Asia Cup.
As per a report in the news agency PTI, the PCB is left with no option but to organize the Champions Trophy in the hybrid model after the BCCI intimated to the ICC that India won't travel to Pakistan for the ODI tournament.
"This is an ICC event and BCCI has informed the global body that it won't travel to Pakistan. It will depend on ICC to inform the host nation about the development and then close in on the scheduling of the tournament. The convention is to announce the schedule 100 days prior to the commencement of the event," PTI quoted a BCCI source as saying.
The report added that Team India have agreed to play all their matches in Dubai. In recent years, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) more than once. UAE also hosted the Women's T20 World Cup recently after the ICC event was moved out of Bangladesh due to civil unrest in the Asian country.
What Mohsin Naqvi said about the Champions Trophy in his press conference
Addressing the media on Friday, PCB chief Naqvi stated that Pakistan would not host any Champions Trophy matches outside the country if India do not travel for the tournament. He also sought written communication from the BCCI if the cricket board had any objections.
"In the last two months, the Indian media has been reporting that India isn't travelling. I discussed this with them and my team, and our stance is clear: they need to give us in writing any objections they may have," Naqvi told reporters.
"Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one. The Indian media are reporting it, but no formal communication has reached the PCB... Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here," he went on to add.
Incidentally, Pakistan also hosted the 2023 Asia Cup, but India played all their games in Sri Lanka as part of a hybrid model arrangement.