'Kabaddi, Tennis teams visited Pakistan' - Salman Butt puts Indian government in tough position over Champions Trophy participation

Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt has slammed the Indian government for not allowing the Indian cricket team to visit Pakistan. In the past few years, the Indian government has not given Team India permission to visit Pakistan due to security concerns.

A recent example is the Asia Cup 2023 which was scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan. However, India did not get the required permission from the government, which prompted the tournament to be hosted in a hybrid model. Ultimately, the tournament was played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

All of India's matches took place in Sri Lanka, which also includes the final. A similar situation is starting to take place now as well. As Pakistan is set to host the Champions Trophy 2025, which will be played in February-March next year, there have been concerns over India's participation in the event.

According to several reports, the BCCI will push the International Cricket Council (ICC) to allow the tournament to be hosted in a hybrid model to ensure India's participation.

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Salman Butt lashes out at Indian government for not allowing Team India to visit Pakistan

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Salman Butt argued that Pakistan holds the rights to host the Champions Trophy 2025 in their country. He gave an example of India's Kabaddi and Tennis teams that visited Pakistan and asked the Indian government to remain equal for all sports.

"Pakistan have got the rights to host the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy and it should be held in Pakistan. Like all the other teams, India should also come to Pakistan. Pakistan went to India for the World Cup, so India should also do the same," Butt said.

"A lot of things have been said about the relations between the two countries, but India's kabaddi and tennis teams have visited the same Pakistan. Either you cut off completely, or you try to be normal everywhere. You can't pick and choose, which they have been doing," he added.

"There are many fans of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in Pakistan" - Salman Butt

The former Pakistan batter also claimed that India's star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have numerous fans on Pakistani soil and many fans carry their posters during the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

"Pakistani fans want to see the Indian players play here. There are many fans of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in Pakistan and even bring their posters during PSL matches, despite knowing that they aren't part of the league. People want to see these stars play in front of them. I am sure that even in India there are people who are fans of some Pakistani players," Butt added.

India last visited Pakistan in 2008 for the Asia Cup. Since then, the bilateral relations between the two countries have been strained because of 2007 terror attacks in Mumbai, where Pakistani links were found. The last bilateral series between the two nations took place in 2013 when Pakistan visited India for a T20I and an ODI series. The T20I series was drawn while Pakistan won the ODI series 2-1.