India won't visit Pakistan to play Champions Trophy

BCCI officially informs ICC Indian govt advised against sending team to Pakistan

KARACHI:

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has informed the International Cricket Council (ICC) that India will not travel to Pakistan to participate in the Champions Trophy 2025, the ESPNcricinfo reported on Saturday.

According to ESPNcricinfo, the BCCI officially informed the ICC that the Indian government advised against sending the team to Pakistan.

The 9th edition of the Champions Trophy is scheduled to take place in Pakistan in the February-March window in 2025; however, India's participation in the tournament was uncertain as the BCCI sought the government's approval.

With time running out for finalising the fixtures of the Champions Trophy, the ICC had set the BCCI a deadline for Friday (Nov 8) to confirm its venue preference, and plans to send its security officials to Pakistan for a recce next week.

In an interaction with the media earlier on Friday, Mohsin Naqvi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), said that the cricket board has not received any formal confirmation from the BCCI on their decision to skip Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025.

"Although there's a lot of talk [in media] that India may not come, we have received no official statement [from the BCCI]," said Mohsin Naqvi. "Our stance is that India should give us a written confirmation if they are not coming for the Champions Trophy." Naqvi reiterated that the PCB is not considering a hybrid model and is determined to host the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.

"We maintain that the Champions Trophy will only be hosted in Pakistan, and there's been no discussion of a hybrid model," he added.

"We will provide all necessary facilities and security to all visiting teams, and we hope international fans will come here to watch the matches."

"We have been showing good gestures for the last few years and no one should expect us to do it all the time," Naqvi said, adding that the Shahbaz Sharif government would take the final decision on how to proceed if such a proposal was given.

It may be noted India has not visited Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup because of the ongoing political unrest between the two neighbors.

Pakistan, on the other hand, has visited India four times in the previous sixteen years. They most recently visited for the ICC Men's World Cup 2023 last year.

India's decision comes despite several attempts by the PCB including during the recent visit of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to Islamabad, to convince the government to change its mind, offering any special security arrangements required.

The PCB was also prepared to assure the BCCI of its choice of venue for all matches played by the Indian team, which would have security concerns to play in Pakistan, given the tensions between the two countries and the absence of normal ties.

"We have officially informed the ICC about our inability to participate in games in Pakistan. We have made our stance clear that we will prefer a hybrid model, with the tournament split in two countries," a BCCI official said on Saturday. "We were asked to clear our stand and we have done it, in consultation with the (Central) government."

It may be mentioned here that a hybrid model would mean India's group engagements and the tournament final, due to be held in February-March 2025, would be organised in the UAE, a proposal that was met with stiff opposition from Pakistan.

At least two officials confirmed that the PCB had presented Pakistan's case for India to travel with the Indian delegation there. According to the sources, Pakistan was prepared to let the Indian team spend only as much time in Pakistan as was required for the matches or practice, and would facilitate the team's return to India by air or by road over the border to Amritsar.

"This would mean that any time, they could return to India within 20 minutes," an official said while requesting anonymity, referring to the drive from Lahore to the Wagah-Attari border.

The officials said Pakistan expected "reciprocity" from India, as it sent its team to play in the ICC World Cup in 2023, and will be expected to send its team for the Asia Cup being hosted by India in 2025.

The timing of the decision was made more awkward as BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who is the son of Home Minister Amit Shah, is also the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), and is set to take over as ICC chairman on December 1, and would not want any allegations of being partial to his own team being levelled in that position.