Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has opted to put all efforts into hosting the entire Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan, thus deciding not to succumb to any ‘neutral venue’ demands. The decision came as rumors about the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) declining to send the national team to Pakistan resurfaced. While it was not officially stated by the BCCI or an official related to the board, many media reports suggested that the Indian Board has demanded their matches be shifted to a neutral venue.
PCB had once before entertained these demands by their neighbors in Asia Cup 2023 wherein all of India’s matches were hosted in Sri Lanka. However, this hybrid model to host the tournament not only took a toll on Pakistan’s players who had to travel extensively for their games during the tourney but later reports revealed that the PCB also had to suffer financial setbacks. However, this time the Board adamantly decided against this model and will oppose any similar recommendations put by the ICC during the annual meeting in Colombo from 19th to 22nd July.
The cricket governing body of Pakistan has already revealed the allocated venues for the event with matches slated to take place at three venues including Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi. It is also understood that according to the initial draft, India is scheduled to play all of their matches in Lahore including the grand clash with Pakistan on the first of March, 2025.
Some reports state that the PCB has threatened to pull out of the T20 World Cup 2026 which is to be hosted by India, should the Indian board decide against sending their team across to their western neighbour. The last time Pakistan hosted an ICC tournament was back in 1996 when the cricket-mad country co-hosted the ODI World Cup with Sri Lanka and India. Since then owing to the country being at a constant war against terrorism post 911, no mega-events were scheduled here. To top it all, even bilaterals and any kind of International matches were made to move out of Pakistan following a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009 in Lahore.
Pakistan, who are also the defending champions of the ICC Champions Trophy, played cricket in exile for seven years before it finally came home and now the country is gearing up to host a mega-event. The Pakistan Cricket Board has set aside a whopping Rs. 12.8 Billion for renovations of the grounds at all three venues before the tournament starts from 19th February 2025 to 19th March 2025.
In a scenario where India really do pull out of the tournament, they will be replaced by the next on-the-list team, Sri Lanka. The Islanders have not originally qualified for the Champions Trophy because they ended the World Cup 2023 in 9th place.
Talking about the World Cup 2023, Pakistan visited India to play the ODI World Cup last year despite facing visa delays. However, this impasse has brought the ICC to a sticky situation and it remains to be seen what solution the global body devises in Colombo during the conference.
