PCB confirms neutral venue for India's matches in 2025 Champions Trophy: Reports
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reportedly picked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as their choice as the neutral venue for India's games in the 2025 Champions Trophy. The PCB is said to have officially confirmed the same to the International Cricket Council (ICC).
A massive deadlock emerged after India's refusal to travel to Pakistan for the ICC event scheduled to be held in February-March next year. A compromise formula was arrived at recently, with neutral venues being approved for India-Pakistan games during global events for the next three years.
As per a report in Cricbuzz, the decision to pick UAE as the neutral venue for India's matches of the 2025 Champions Trophy was arrived at following a meeting between chairman of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) Sheikh Mubarak Al Nahyan and PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. The report claimed that the meeting was held in Sanghar in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
"The PCB has chosen the UAE as the neutral venue and the PCB has formally informed the ICC about the decision. Now, India and Pakistan's Champions Trophy matches will be held in the UAE. The final decision was made after a meeting between Mohsin Naqvi and Sheikh Al Nahyan," a PCB spokesman was quoted as telling Cricbuzz.
The report further added that Dubai is almost confirmed to host the marquee India vs Pakistan clash, which is likely to be played on February 23. Abu Dhabi and Sharjah are the other international venues in the UAE, but Dubai is expected to get the nod for India's 2025 Champions Trophy matches.
Champions Trophy schedule set to be announced soon
With the deadlock between the PCB and the BCCI resolved, the ICC is likely to announce the 2025 Champions Trophy schedule soon. While approving venues for India-Pakistan matches at the global stage for the next three years on December 19, the ICC released a statement and said:
"The ICC Board has approved that matches between India and Pakistan played at ICC Events during the current rights cycle from 2024 to 2027 (which are to be hosted in India or Pakistan) will be played at a neutral venue proposed by the tournament host. This will apply to the ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025 (Pakistan), ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 (India) and the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 (India and Sri Lanka)."
Meanwhile according to some reports, the Champions Trophy final is likely to be held in Lahore If India doesn't qualify for the summit clash. The ICC event is set to be held from February 19 to March 9.