Champions Trophy 2025: Moin Khan fires India, BCCI colossal warning over CT participation in Pakistan

Former Pakistan cricketer Moin Khan wants India's legendary cricketers to step in and advise the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in order to ensure India's participation in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

The Champions Trophy 2025 is scheduled to be held in Pakistan in February-March next year. However, the tournament is in jeopardy as India's participation in the event is not yet confirmed.

All the other participating nations have confirmed their participation in the tournament. But India's participation will be extremely important as it is a huge market in this sport. However, the ball is in the court of the Indian government now and they will decide whether the team will travel to Pakistan or not.

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Moin Khan wants Indian cricket legends to step in to ensure India's participation

During an interview with Cricket Pakistan, Moin Khan called for India's cricket legends to step in and convince the BCCI to ensure India's travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Moin Khan advised India to honor the ICC commitments and keep the sports away from politics. Moin Khan also warned if India does not travel to Pakistan, they also have the right to take a similar step the next time.

"In my view, Indian cricket legends should advise the BCCI to keep sports separate from politics," Moin Khan said.

"Fans worldwide want India and Pakistan to play, benefiting not just Pakistan but the sport as a whole. India must honor ICC commitments, and if they don't, Pakistan should also consider taking a stand by not participating in future tournaments in India," added Moin Khan.

India's last visit to Pakistan

India last travelled to Pakistan in 2008 for the Asia Cup where they finished runners-up to Sri Lanka. Since then, the political relations between the two countries have worsened. The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which had links to Pakistan, made the relations even worse.

Although India have not traveled to Pakistan, Pakistan have been traveling to India for ICC tournaments. They travelled to India for the ICC ODI World Cup 2011, the ICC T20 World Cup 2016, and also the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.

India were also supposed to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023 but refused to travel to the country, thus leading the tournament to be held in a hybrid model. Sri Lanka hosted all of India's matches, including the final.

Indian government to take the final decision

The BCCI has clearly stated that it is not their decision to send the team to Pakistan and a final decision will be taken by the Indian government. The government of India has repeatedly cited security concerns in Pakistan as the main reason behind not allowing the Indian cricket team to travel to the neighboring country.

It remains to be seen what decision the Indian government will take and how the tournament will be hosted if India refuses to travel to Pakistan. However, it will be a huge blow to PCB's finances if India refuses to travel for the tournament.