The Official of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), as reported by News18, has blamed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the latter’s stance of not sending their captain Rohit Sharma to Pakistan for the opening ceremony of the Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to take place from February 19. India will play all of their games at the Dubai International Stadium.
The opening ceremony of the event is likely to take place on February 16 or 17. Rohit was expected to attend the customary photo shoot of the captains and the pre-event press conference in Pakistan, which is quite common in any ICC event for the last few editions. Because of BCCI’s issue with travel to the other side of the border for security reasons, all of India’s group games and potential semifinal and final were shifted to the United Arab Emirates.
A source claimed, as reported by the PTI that recently, three Indian nationals who were part of the ICC delegation coming to Pakistan were promptly issued visas once the world body sent their names to their cricket board.
Also Read: Abhimanyu Easwaran Ruled Out Of First-class Clash vs Haryana In Ranji Trophy 2024-25 Due To This
“This includes Rohit or any other Indian team player or official or board official.” The source of the PCB explained. “This is in line with the usual protocols, and since the opening match is on the 19th, the opening ceremony can be expected either on the 16th or 17th.”
Pakistan blames BCCI for bringing politics into cricket before Champions Trophy 2025
The new secretary of the BCCI, Devajit Saikia, informed that no such decisions had been made yet as they didn’t get any invitation from the PCB regarding the development.
The Pakistan Cricket Board had made it clear to the International Cricket Council (ICC) that the opening ceremony, featuring all the teams and their captain, will take place only in Pakistan. It has also been stated that the confirmed schedule of the opening ceremony will be known depending on the warm-up matches.
The reports have also highlighted that the Indian team would not wear the name of their arch-rivals on their tournament jersey despite the former being the official host.
“BCCI is bringing politics into cricket, which is not at all good for the game. They refused to travel to Pakistan. They don’t want to send their captain (to Pakistan) for the opening ceremony, now there are reports that they don’t want the host nation’s (Pakistan) name printed on their jersey. We believe that the world governing body (ICC) will not let this happen and support Pakistan.” The PCB official told IANS about the development.
India has already announced their 15-member squad for the eight-team event, with Shubman Gill being shouldered the responsibility of the vice-captaincy. The balance of the squad has depended mostly on experienced campaigners. The only concern for them is the fitness of their two premier and veteran pacers, Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.
Also Read: Fresh Controversy For Shakib Al Hasan!! Arrest Warrant Issued In Dishonored Cheque Case
Shami has been included in the home five-match T20I series against England, and it will be interesting to see how he progresses in the next four weeks before the start of the ICC event. Bumrah got injured during the fifth and final Test of the BGT 2024-25 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and is expected to have scans on February 02 before getting selected for the third ODI of the home series to check his fitness.
India will start their Champions Trophy camp on February 19 against Bangladesh in Dubai before they take on Pakistan and New Zealand in the last two group-stage clashes.