ICC to come with this new twist for the upcoming tournaments, check out

A report from news agency PTI quoting sources on Thursday night suggested that the Jay Shah-led International Cricket Council (ICC) and member associations “agreed in principle” on caveat that all ICC events will be held with a similar hybrid model till 2027. The Champions Trophy 2025 will be between February and March in the next year. The report quoted a top ICC source that said the decision was nearly finalized during an informal meeting between new President Jay Shah and the Board of Directors, including Pakistan, at its headquarters in Dubai on Thursday.

Pakistan, while finally withdrawing from the boycott threat and agreeing to go hybrid during the last ICC meeting last week, demanded a reciprocal condition for itself up to the year 2031. However, the ICC agreed to a hybrid model for all events till 2027.

“All parties have agreed in principle that the 2025 Champions Trophy will be hosted in the UAE and Pakistan, with India playing its matches in Dubai. It’s a win-win situation for all stakeholders,” the ICC source told PTI.

However, it may not be seen as a ‘win-win’ for BCCI by all.

India will host the women’s ODI World Cup of 2025 in October this year and the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup jointly with Sri Lanka, from 2025 to 2027.

In all, as far as the hosting is concerned, Pakistan would otherwise be able to avoid coming to India because of the strict insistence on travel without a hybrid model in place, even in 2026. If the report above turns out to be an actual fact, then India cannot play their star match against Pakistan at home, which will be a major whack to many.

This would entail an Indian team traveling abroad to play home matches as its only host in ICC events.

“Pakistan will play its matches in Sri Lanka during the men’s T20 World Cup in 2026. Compensation sought by PCB regarding Champions Trophy hybrid model is still under discussion,” the source told PTI.

If this historic agreement is made, it means that the Indian women’s team will have to travel to a neutral venue to play their league match against Pakistan, should that be necessitated by the schedule which is yet to come out:

India has not toured Pakistan since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, with over 150 casualties. Their last bilateral engagement was back in 2012.

This has been attributed to security reasons as the latest excuse for not visiting by the ICC, which has reiterated on many occasions that it does not expect any member board to go against government travel advisories.