The International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting will live to see another day as the talks between all the sides as to where the Champions Trophy 2025 will be held could not break the impasse on Friday. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair and other members flew to Dubai for the meeting, which was joined virtually be most members, on Friday. The meeting lasted for only 15 minutes where the PCB presented their long-held stance of not accepting a hybrid model, or at least not without putting forward a few conditions of their own, one of which is to implement a similar model in the multi-nation events that are scheduled to be held in India in future. The situation remains as vague as ever but from what the reports from the meeting tell, a decision can be expected within the next 24 to 48 hours.
Pakistan, who have the hosting rights of the event, and India, who have refused to travel to Pakistan for the trophy, have been advised by the Board to work towards a solution that is in the best interests of all stakeholders. Besides their concerns for the venue, the PCB also has demanded a written refusal pointing out the reasons behind the decision from the BCCI.
The BCCI told the ICC a few weeks ago that the board could not obtain clearance to visit Pakistan from the Indian government. Reportedly, the PCB has declined to opt for any of the given solutions, which include a hybrid model, a tournament without India, and a transfer of the entire tournament to another country, without a formal, written refusal from India.
A spokesperson from India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, which marked the first formal acknowledgment of the decision from India, that the Indian board has released a statement citing ‘security concerns’ as the reason behind the refusal. However, no such statement, or any public statement for that matter, has been issued by the BCCI.
“The BCCI has issued a statement so I would refer you to it,” said the spokesperson. “They have said there are security concerns there and therefore it is unlikely the team will be going there. Please do refer to the statement issued by the BCCI.”
A window between February 19 to March 9 was earlier reserved for the eight-nation tournament. This means that the event is only less than 90 days away. However, due to this deadlock between both Asian nations, the ICC has not been able to officially release the schedule. As per the draft schedule, three venues across Pakistan including Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Multan will stage the matches of the tourney. However, in the event, a hybrid model is adopted, one or two more venues can be expected to be added.
Pakistan and India have not played bilaterally for more than a decade now. Although Pakistan have traveled to India twice since their last bilateral meet-up, once in 2016 for the T20 World Cup and the other when the men in green played the ODI World Cup 2023 there, the Indian team last played in Pakistan in 2008.
Saturday, which will be the second day of the Board meeting, will also be Greg Barclay’s last day as the ICC’s chair. He will be replaced by Jay Shah, who is currently the secretary of BCCI. The ICC wants to break the deadlock before Shah takes over.
