Pakistan is set to host the upcoming edition of the Champions Trophy 2025, which according to the reports is scheduled to begin from February 19 in Karachi, while the eight-team event is expected to end on March 09 in Lahore.
However, there is a possibility that if India refuses to travel to Pakistan due to their political relationship, then the tournament could get divided into two countries, and India’s matches could move to either Sri Lanka or Dubai.
In the end, if this doesn’t happen and the 2013 champions of the competition pull their name out of the event, then Sri Lanka will replace India for the Champions Trophy 2025.
Pakistan could boycott T20 World Cup 2026 in India
With the reports of the blue brigade’s refusal to travel to Pakistan, it has been reported by the Geo News Urdu that the ‘men in green’ could end up skipping the next edition of the T20 World Cup in 2026, which is going to be hosted by Sri Lanka and India.
Also Read: Craig Ervine To Lead Zimbabwe For One-off Test In Ireland
The last Asia Cup in 2023, just before the ODI World Cup too was hosted in Pakistan, but still India decided not to travel in that country and played all of their game, including the one against the host, in Sri Lanka, thanks to the hybrid model.
However, this time, the PCB will not deviate from their position of hosting the full tournament, as they will maintain the same during their next ICC meeting in Sri Lanka next week. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi is expected to attend the ICC meeting which is set to take place from July 19 to 22.
Both these teams have been facing each other only in the ICC events for a long time, as the Green Brigade came to India for a bilateral series back in 2012, while the Indian team traveled to Pakistan back in 2008 for the Asia Cup.
Even after so many reports, the Babar Azam-led side came to India for the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they had a very poor time, after not being able to go beyond the group stage of the tournament. They also made a trip to India during the 2016 T20 World Cup, where their game against India was a rain-curtailed game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The sources confirm, that all the teams participating in the Champions Trophy have travelled to Pakistan. The hosts are also the defending champions of the tournament, having got the better of the Indian team, under Virat Kohli in the 2017 season.
The BCCI vice-president, Rajiv Shukla however has noted that the government’s decision will be final regarding their travel to Pakistan.
Also Read: Ravichandran Ashwin Shares Story Of MS Dhoni’s Furious Moment Involving S Sreesanth
‘In the case of the Champions Trophy, we will do whatever the Government of India tells us to do.’ Rajiv Shukla observed. ‘We will send our team only when the Government of India permits. So we will go according to the decision of the Indian government.’
The T20 World Cup is a major ICC event and the absence of a team like Pakistan will surely demolish its global appearance and comparativeness. The situation has been a tricky one of late and needs to be handled in the best way by balancing the national security concerns and the importance of the ICC tournaments.