The mystery of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 continues as there is no stable information on the starting date of the event, which is scheduled to take place in Pakistan from the second week of February to the third week of March. However, with India not willing to travel across the border and the Green Brigade refusing the hybrid model, the voting process is expected to be the solution.
The hybrid model for the Champions Trophy will help the Indian side play their portion of the event in either Sri Lanka or Dubai. Recent reports have indicated that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has called for a board meeting on November 29, hoping to get a clear answer on the potential dates and venues for the tournament.
The discussion will be virtual, and a final decision could be taken only after the ICC board arrives at a consensus. The draft schedule proposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) claims that the window for the ODI tournament has been addressed between February 19 and March 09.
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But nothing is confirmed until the head of these boards formally announces the dates as well as the schedule. Generally, for all the past global tournaments, the dates and venues have been declared 100 days before the event.
ICC to hold a board meeting on November 29 to take a final call on Champions Trophy 2025
The reason for the delay is very simple. The Indian government wasn’t prepared to allow Rohit Sharma’s team any permission to travel to Pakistan when the BCCU wrote a letter to the ICC, who forwarded the letter to the PCB a fortnight ago. Pakistan, who were awarded the hosting power of the competition nearly four years ago, in reply, asked for detailed information on security issues.
The chairman of the PCB, Mohsin Naqvi, has not moved an inch from his stance of hosting the entire competition at the three venues: the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the National Stadium in Karachi, and the Rawalpindi Stadium. All of these grounds have been renovated for the event, which has also pushed the Karachi stadium to miss the chance of hosting two Test matches at home against England and Bangladesh.
Last week, Naqvi claimed that he would be open to having a dialogue with the BCCI to break the bubble, but the ICC spokesperson confirmed that no such comment has been made from the PCB. Mohsin also felt that the Indian side should show a good gesture towards them by touring their country, for the big heart they displayed by tripping to India for last year’s ODI World Cup, despite them not holding the full Asia Cup at home.
The ICC board will compromise representatives from the 12 full member countries, three representatives from the Associates, an independent director along with the ICC Chairman, and the CEO. The meeting will come right at the end of the tenure of the current chairman, Greg Barclay.
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This will be his last board meeting with the governing body before he will be replaced by the current BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, from Sunday (December 01). The latter will be a key figure, from then, to handling the situation for the Champions Trophy 2025.
The PCB chairman is also an essential member of the country’s government being their interior minister. It’s notable that days before the upcoming ICC meeting, the ongoing Pakistan and Sri Lanka A series had been postponed due to the political protest going on in Islamabad by PTI, the party of the former captain and PMO, Imran Khan.