Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has criticized BCCI Secretary Jay Shah for reportedly declining to travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Ali accused Jay Shah of exerting undue influence on other cricket boards to align with his preferences.
Despite ongoing security concerns, Pakistan retains the hosting rights for the 2025 Champions Trophy. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has initiated preparations for the event, including stadium renovations. However, India’s participation remains uncertain.
Recent reports suggest that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may request the International Cricket Council (ICC) to relocate India’s Champions Trophy matches to a neutral venue, as the Indian government is expected to deny approval for the team’s travel to Pakistan.
Ali, visibly frustrated by BCCI’s stance, voiced his concerns in a YouTube video. He claimed that Jay Shah wields significant influence, asserting that “5-6 cricket boards blindly follow his directives.
“There are 5-6 boards, they will talk with their tails wagging what Jay Shah will say. If he says the Champions Trophy will be in Pakistan, they’ll agree. If he says it’ll be a hybrid model, they’ll go with that too,” Basit said.
The former cricketer suggested that Shah has secured the support of major cricket boards by offering substantial payments for player participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He argued that this financial leverage has led to a situation where boards are compelled to align with Shah’s decisions.
“It’s because when their players play in the IPL, BCCI pays their boards a huge amount whether it’s the English board, New Zealand board, West Indies board, or Australia board,” he said.
Recently, at the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) annual meeting in Colombo, the budget for the 2025 Champions Trophy was officially approved. According to a local media report, this approval was granted on the final day of the meeting. Pakistan, the host nation for the event, was represented by Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Mohsin Naqvi, who was present at the meeting. The budget was meticulously prepared by ICC Chief Finance Officer Ankur Khanna and PCB Chief Finance Officer Javed Murtaza.The ICC have passed the budget for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 which will be hosted by Pakistan in February-March next year.
However, the ICC allotted Rs 12.80 billion to Pakistan for the multinational tournament. ICC’s chief finance officer, Ankur Khanna, and PCB’s chief finance officer, Javed Murtaza, had prepared the budget. ICC allocated this budget to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to renovate venues in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi for the Champions Trophy 2025.
PCB are sticking to its original plan of hosting the whole tournament in Pakistan but as per Cricket Pakistan’s report team India might play their matches at a neutral venue rather than travelling to Pakistan.
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