In a letter addressed to the ICC, the PCB inquired as to why Indians are not willing to come to Pakistan in order to participate at the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025, as stated in an article published by ESPN Cricinfo on Tuesday. Just last week, the International Cricket Council (ICC) wrote to the PCB , informing that BCCI has decided against sending an Indian cricket team to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy as it did not get an approval from the Indian government. As reported, this has prompted the PCB the BCCI to put down on paper, the clause of the reason why it will not be able to participate in the event held in Pakistan.
For now, it has been declared that Champions Trophy 2025 will be hosted by Pakistan starting from February 9 across three venues.
India has not been to Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup as the political relations between the two countries have been poor.
‘Security concerns’ have been one of the main reason as to why India has refused to go to Pakistan for the championship.
BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla also said earlier this year that India would only go to Pakistan if the Indian government agreed.
Recently, the ICC also informed the PCB that no Indian team will be going to Pakistan for the up coming Indian Invitational tournament taking place in Pakistan, sometime in Early 2025.
The PCB has consulted the government of Pakistan on this issue and is seeking to take a strong position on the issue.
“Pakistan cricket comes along with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Without Pakistan vs India matches, it is hard to think that ICC would manage to earn such revenues,” the sources told Geo News.
BCCI has asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to stage the match of Indian cricket team under hybrid model with probable final in Dubai International Stadium, U.A.E.
However, last week, PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi dismissed the likelihood of the tournament being held in a hybrid model, stating there have been no talks of holding the tournament in a hybrid model anyway.
On Tuesday, it was said by the sources that South Africa and United Arab Emirates (UAE) were two of the potential options for the hosting of the Champions Trophy 2025 in case Pakistan decided to pull out at the last minute.
If the tournament is moved, it was also stated that Pakistan might consider withdrawing from that tournament if the ICC decides to change from a home venue to a neutral one as of late.
The last bilateral series between the two countries was played in India in 2012-13, which was a white-ball series and now they are more often than not involved in ICC events and Asia Cup.
