The current focus of world cricket has shifted to the white-ball encounters with the return of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. India finishes their Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 campaign against Australia with a defeat of 3-1 margin to rule themselves out of the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final, scheduled for Lord’s from June 11.
The ICC white-ball event will start on February 19 in Pakistan, while India will play all of their games at the Dubai International Stadium in the United Arab Emirates on the back of their political issue with the neighbors. They wrote to the ICC, which was later forwarded to the PCB to inform their stance on the aspect.
After several meetings, the deadlock ended in a mutual agreement that India would play all of their fixtures in the hybrid model and the same process will be followed by the upcoming ICC competitions in the future, including the 2026 T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
Former Pakistan captain accuses India of getting an advantage in avoiding travel and logistics
Except for the games for the Blue Brigade, where they will face Bangladesh in the opener, followed by the mouth-watering clash against the Green Brigade, and the third and final encounter in the group stage against New Zealand, all of the other games have been arranged in the three stadiums of Pakistan, the Rawalpindi Stadium, the National Stadium in Karachi and the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
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However, some of the former Pakistan players are not happy with the decision and feel that the runners-up from the previous edition of the event have been taking an ‘unfair’ advantage with the participating teams.
“India is the only team that knows where it will play the semifinals and the final, while the other teams will only know that once the group stage is completed.” The former pacer of the side, Salim Altaf, told ‘Dawn.’
The former captain of the defending champions of the event, Intikhab Alam, agreed with Altaf and reckoned that India will be enjoying an advantage by playing in similar conditions at the same venue throughout the tournament as they won’t have to think much about the travel and logistics.
“Like other teams, India will not go from venue to venue. It will avoid the logistics of travel, besides getting similar kinds of pitches and cricketing environment, at one venue. It’s not fair on the other teams. It’s surprising for me that the other cricket board did not raise any objection.” The former captain claimed.
The final of the event has been scheduled to take place at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The final decision on the venue will be made with the qualification of India. They also went through the same hybrid model during the 2023 Asia Cup when the Rohit Sharma-led side played all of their games in Sri Lanka, while the official hosts, Pakistan, made their trip to the Island to face the blue brigade.
However, a few months later, the Babar Azam-led side went to the other side of the border to participate in the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup. The PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, desired that the BCCI shouldn’t make their first tour to Pakistan, only for that reason. The most anticipated game of the event between these two countries will take place on February 23 in Dubai.