Former BCCI Secretary Jay Shah replaced Greg Barclay and took over as the ICC Chairman on December 1. Resolving the issue regarding the hosting of the Champions Trophy must be on top of his list.
With BCCI clearly refusing to let the Indian team travel to Pakistan for the ICC event and the PCB showing strong dissent over the hybrid model, the future of the Champions Trophy is still uncertain.
After taking over as the ICC Chairman, Shah made no comments on the Champions Trophy matter, however a report by Cricbuzz has now stated that the newly-appointed ICC Chairman has called for a virtual board meeting on December 5, but with no specific agenda.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that if the hybrid model is accepted then India will be playing all of their matches in Dubai. However, the PCB has also demanded that if the hybrid model does get accepted for the upcoming ICC event, then they won’t let the Pakistan team travel to India for taking part major tournaments until 2031. If this ends up happening, then reportedly their share of matches will also be played in Dubai.
The ICC reportedly asked the PCB to accept the hybrid model during an inconclusive meeting of its executive board on November 29. Though most of the ICC board members were sympathetic towards Pakistan’s situation, but PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi was, nonetheless, advised to accept the hybrid model as it is the only “plausible solution” to end the ongoing chaos regarding the tournament.
“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. If not, then ICC Board might have to shift the tournament entirely to a different country (could be UAE too) but it will be held without Pakistan” an ICC Board source told PTI.
