Clouds are looming over the Champions Trophy 2025 even though the tournament is still one year away. One of the major concerns over the tournament is the participation of the Indian team, especially with the tournament slated to take place in Pakistan.
Due to political tensions, India have stopped playing cricket with Pakistan as both the teams only play in ICC events and the Asia Cup. But with the Champions Trophy being the ICC event, it has raised a lot of speculations about it, especially if India don’t travel to Pakistan.
Recently, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi stated that he will be speaking to ICC on assurance of India traveling to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. However, there hasn’t been any official confirmation from the BCCI related to the same as they aren’t currently focused on that.
The ICC board member, however, stated that if the Indian government doesn’t allow them to travel to Pakistan then the governing body will have to look for some other alternative. He highlighted ICC’s policy and while speaking to PTI, said:
“Every member can raise concerns for discussion at Board meetings and then it would go to a vote. But if the government (of a member nation) expressly say that they can’t play there, ICC would need to look for an alternative because the ICC Board’s position remains that it doesn’t expect its members to go against any policy/instructions issued by its own government.”
Teams in England, Australia, and New Zealand have all traveled to Pakistan in the recent past. The Pakistan Cricket Board has been citing the same things again and again, wanting to express their desire to see the Men In Blue playing in Pakistan.
The ICC board member was asked if any hesitation from India would lead to a vote against the country. Replying to this he stated that there won’t be any such situations. He stated:
“Don’t forget threat perception for an Indian cricket team would always be higher compared to Australia, England and New Zealand.”
The India government might take a softer stance – ICC board member
The ICC board member further stated that BCCI would have in mind that Pakistan sent their team to India for the ICC World Cup 2023. He believes that with the Champions Trophy being a global event, the Indian government might take a softer stance and send the team to Pakistan. He stated:
“The BCCI would obviously be compelled to look at it from the point of view that the Pakistan government allowed its team to play in the World Cup in India last year.
“So, this being a global event and not a continental one like the Asia Cup, the Indian government might take a softer stance. BCCI president Roger Binny and VP Rajiv Shukla had travelled to Pakistan during the Asia Cup.”
There could be a possibility of a hybrid model as well with he Men In Blue playing in UAE. The same happened during the Asia Cup 2023 when the he Men In Blue team didn’t travel to Pakistan and the tournament was played in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
