India not traveling to Pakistan for Champions Trophy as the BCCI makes the decision clear to its Pakistan counterparts.
India not traveling to Pakistan to participate in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
The Indian government had asked the BCCI not to send the team to Pakistan, the BCCI informed the ICC. Due to this development, the ICC and PCB will need to implement a backup plan. It will be a hybrid format where teams will alternate between Pakistan and a second location, for the eight-team tourney. Which is slated to take place at three locations in Pakistan between February 19 and March 9.
That won’t be easy because Mohsin Naqvi, the chairman of the PCB, said on Friday that a hybrid model wouldn’t be used or even that it had been discussed. However, a number of backup plans were outlined a few months prior in case the hybrid approach was chosen. Although a few nations have made the short list, it is believed that the UAE will likely win because of its closeness to Pakistan. Sri Lanka is on the shortlist as well.
Although it was unclear if the BCCI had verbally conveyed its decision. The ICC was notified of the BCCI’s position earlier this week. The ICC might be awaiting written correspondence before forwarding that information to the PCB. Before making a final decision, Naqvi had demanded on Friday that the PCB must receive any complaints from the BCCI “in writing” and that he must address them with his government.
The PCB was not “prepared to accept” the hybrid model, according to Naqvi’s position on Friday. This was noticeably more clear-cut than it has been on the matter. He mentioned the “great gestures” the PCB had previously made, such as sending the squad to India to compete in the 2023 ODI World Cup, even though India had declined to send a team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. In the end, that competition switched to a hybrid format, with the final phases taking place in Sri Lanka. He also made it clear that the administration will decide whether or not Pakistan would visit India in the future.