The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sent a letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday to seek reasons behind India’s refusal to send its team across the border for next year’s ICC Champions Trophy.The PCB has made it clear that it will not accept a “hybrid model for Champions Trophy 2025.”
The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mohsin Naqvi, has said that the PCB is not willing to accept a hybrid model for the Champions Trophy. Instead, Pakistan is preparing to host the entire tournament in the country. Speaking to the media at Gaddafi Stadium, which is being renovated for the Champions Trophy, Naqvi said there had been no official communication from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about any objections to the Indian team playing in Pakistan.
Naqvi’s comments were stronger than what the PCB had said earlier about India’s possible reluctance to travel to Pakistan. “In the past two months, Indian media have been reporting that India is not coming,” Naqvi said. “I spoke with my team, and our position is clear: India needs to send us a written objection if they have one. There has been no official talk about a hybrid model, and we are not accepting it. The Indian media are reporting this, but no official communication has been sent to the PCB.”
hybrid model for Champions Trophy 2025Naqvi also pointed out that Pakistan had made “great gestures” to India in the past, referring to the Pakistan team traveling to India for the 2023 ODI World Cup, even though India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. That tournament ended up being held in a hybrid model, with some matches played in Sri Lanka.
MohsinNaqvi:
I want to tell Indian cricket media that don’t always expect good from Pakistan. We won’t play matches with you in the hybrid model. You’ll have to come to our country. Keep cricket separate from politics.
“If we receive a letter from India, I will have to go to the government and follow their decision,” Naqvi said. “Pakistan has shown good gestures to India before, and we want to make it clear that India shouldn’t expect such gestures every time. The government will decide if Pakistan will travel to India for any future events if India doesn’t come to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. The PCB will not make that decision.”
The PCB has announced that three venues—Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi—will host matches for the tournament. They also offered to hold all of India’s matches in Lahore, which is close to the Indian city of Amritsar, for easier logistics and security. The PCB is ready to issue up to 17,000 visas for Indian fans attending the tournament.
The BCCI has not discussed the issue internally yet. The Indian board’s position remains the same, and it is waiting for approval from the Indian government about whether the team will travel to Pakistan for the tournament. It is unclear whether the BCCI has formally asked the Indian government for approval or even made informal inquiries.
The Champions Trophy is scheduled to take place in Pakistan from February 19 to March 9, although the official schedule has not yet been announced by the ICC.
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