ICC Champions Trophy 2025: No security concerns raised at meeting; India cornered on Pakistan tour decision

There is some good news coming out for Pakistan ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, which will be held in February-March next year. Recently, a meeting was conducted by the International Cricket Council in Dubai.

The meeting was organized to discuss about the arrangements and security concerns for next year's Champions Trophy. There were also discussions about India's travel to Pakistan for the tour.

It is to be noted that all the participating countries apart from India have confirmed their travel to Pakistan, The BCCI has already made it clear that they will need permission from the Indian government before sending their team.

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Pakistan receive good news before Champions Trophy 2025

According to Cricket Pakistan, the recent meeting proved to be fruitful for Pakistan as none of the participating countries raised any concerns about travel. The feedback received has been positive and is also a part of the official record now.

It means that India do not have many reasons to deny their travel for the Champions Trophy. The report also states that India tried its best to persuade some of its close allies but were not successful in doing so.

In 2023, India convinced its close allies to allow the Asia Cup to be held in a hybrid model. The 2023 Asia Cup was to be held in Pakistan but India denied its travel due to security concerns.

As a result, India's matches, including the final. were held in Sri Lanka. India went on to win the tournament by defeating Sri Lanka in the final. The upcoming Champions Trophy is also likely to be held that way.

Meanwhile, India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar recently visited Pakistan for the SCO summit and reportedly praised the hospitality in the country. It could serve to be a big reason why India can't deny the travel to Pakistan.

ICC is concerned about India's participation

While the PCB is confident of hosting the whole tournament, the ICC is concerned about BCCI's possible decline to send the Indian team to the tournament. It is also the reason why the final schedule for the tournament is not released yet.

According to the draft, the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will be played from February 19 to March 9 in Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi. It is the first ICC tournament to be held in Pakistan after the ODI World Cup 1996.

India's last travel to Pakistan

India has not travelled to Pakistan since 2008 when the Asia Cup was held in the country. India finished runners-up in that tournament. Both India and Pakistan do not play each other except in ICC tournaments or Asia Cups.

The strained political relations between the two nations are the main reason behind India's reluctance to play Pakistan. The last bilateral series played between them was in 2013 when Pakistan travelled to India for a T20I and an ODI series.

While India have constantly denied traveling to Pakistan, the Men in Green have regularly traveled to their neighboring country. Recently, they visited India for the 2023 ODI World Cup where they failed to qualify for the semifinals.