The latest buzz has it that the ICC is ready to confront Pakistan, either go for a hybrid model that has India playing its matches at another venue or watch it miss taking part in the Champions Trophy, as the BCCI has shut any door for Indian players traveling across the border for the next edition of the ICC event.
Emergency meet on Friday to reach inconclusive end, more discussions lined up for Saturday because of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s adamance to budge regarding the hosting of the ICC event solely on home soil.
Though ICC has reportedly shown sympathy for the plight of Pakistan, instructions according to reports came for the PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi to accept the only possible solution of a hybrid model having India play its fixtures outside Pakistan-hence, most probably in the UAE.
“Look, no broadcaster will give a penny to an ICC event which does not have India and even Pakistan knows that. The ICC meeting on Saturday will only happen if Mr Mohsin Naqvi agrees with the ‘Hybrid Model’,” an ICC Board source said.
“If not, then ICC Board might have to shift the tournament entirely to a different country but it will be held without Pakistan,” the source added.
The emergency meeting turned out to be rather brief where Naqvi reiterated Pakistan’s decision not to succumb under pressure to the acceptance of a hybrid model.
“All parties continue to work towards a positive resolution for the Champions Trophy 2025 and it is expected that the board will reconvene on Saturday and continue to meet over the next few days,” another BCCI member said reportedly.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs reiterated BCCI’s position on refusing to send the Indian team to Pakistan for any tournament on security grounds.
“BCCI has released a statement. They said there are security concerns over there and so it will hardly be possible for the team to be going there,” an MEA spokesperson said.
It is understood that in the hypothetical situation where Pakistan is deprived of its right to hold the tournament, it would be deprived of not just the hosting fees and the gate receipts associated with the tournament but also suffer a severe cut in its annual revenue of about $35 million USD.
However, the only possible slot for staging this tournament is between February and March, as originally planned. This complicates matters considering that the broadcaster Star would renegotiate and bring down the cost of the telecast deal if the tournament is rescheduled.
But, if PCB allows a hybrid model, they would be able to negotiate lucrative compensation for sharing hosting rights for the tournament.
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