Jay Shah, BCCI secretary, and Mohsin Naqvi, PCB chief are likely to face off on the issue of India’s refusal to go to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025 in the upcoming ICC AGM in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The meeting is scheduled for July 19-22 to discuss various issues pertaining to cricket.
Pakistan is set to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, their first ICC event since 1996 in Feb-Mar next year. The dates of the Champions Trophy are February 19–March 9.
As per the draft schedule submitted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to the ICC, the three league matches that India is scheduled to play—on February 20 against Bangladesh, February 23 against New Zealand, and March 1 against Pakistan—will all take place in Lahore, according to the PCB’s proposed schedule.
Jay Shah vs Mohsin Naqvi in ICC meeting
The final will take place in Lahore on March 9; the semifinals will take place in Karachi on March 5 and Rawalpindi on March 6.
However, the ICC and PCB are yet to receive confirmation from BCCI whether India will travel to Pakistan for the tournament. Indian team last toured Pakistan in 2008 for the Asia Cup. And though Pakistan came to India in 2012-13, the 2016 T20 World Cup, and the 2023 ODI World Cup; India has not toured Pakistan even for Asia Cup 2023, and the tournament was played in a hybrid model with Men in Blue playing their matches in Sri Lanka.
BCCI set to confirm India’s refusal to tour Pakistan for Asia Cup; may ask for hybrid model
There may be fascinating things to come from the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) series of meetings from July 19–22 in Colombo, since India is expected to state in February of next year that it cannot tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, citing lack of government clearance for the tour.
According to information provided to Time of India, BCCI secretary Jay Shah will be visiting Colombo on Thursday for the meetings, which will end on July 22 with the Annual General Meeting.
The complicated matter is expected to be taken up by the boards of both India and Pakistan (scheduled to be represented by Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi) in the ‘any other business’ category, even though the agenda does not indicate any debate on the subject.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) may have to consider a hybrid tournament model wherein India plays its matches in Sri Lanka or the United Arab Emirates if India declines to travel to Pakistan for the competition. But in such a scenario, the PCB is also probably going to respond strongly.
The BCCI secretary may also attend the India vs Pakistan Women’s Asia Cup match in Dambulla on Friday.
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