BCCI asks ICC to change venue to Dubai or Sri Lanka for the champions trophy match in 2025
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has reportedly been asked by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to move the 2025 Champions Trophy games from India to Dubai or Sri Lanka because the national team would not be visiting Pakistan. This is a significant step. The massive event is slated to happen in Pakistan at the beginning of 2019. After Pakistan, captained by Sarfaraz Ahmed, defeated India in the championship match in England and Wales in 2017, the competition’s centerpiece tournament will return.
“It is highly unlikely that the team will travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, but a final decision will be taken by the government,” BCCI sources recently told. Thus, a hybrid model is being developed in that scenario. Like the Asia Cup, India may play their matches in Sri Lanka or the United Arab Emirates. This is what we are currently considering, albeit the ICC will have an opinion as well. Let’s wait and see how things develop later. It appears that a hybrid model will be used to play it as of right now.”
This is in response to a proposed schedule that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had sent to the International Cricket Council (ICC), with South Africa, Australia, England, and Afghanistan in one group and hosts Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and New Zealand in another. All of the India matches, including the highly anticipated match against the Babar Azam-led Men in Green on March 1, are slated to take place in Lahore according to the draft schedule.
Since2012–13, India and Pakistan have not played each other in a bilateral series. Since 2008, India has likewise refrained from visiting Pakistan due to the tense political ties between the two neighbors. The last time the two senior men’s teams faced each other was at the 20-nation T20 World Cup, which the USA and the West Indies co-hosted. After being drawn into Group A, the two teams faced off on June 9 in New York, where India emerged victorious, defeating Pakistan by 6 runs in a low-scoring thriller.
