India To Decline Participation In Champions Trophy 2025? Pakistan Appreciated For Hospitality

The time is getting closer for the start of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which for now is scheduled to start in the third week of February in Pakistan, but despite having around 15 weeks in hand, there is no confirmation on the participation of India, who hasn’t made a trip to that part of the world for nearly 16 years.

The last time India went to Pakistan, it was for the Asia Cup 2008, and since then, especially after the Mumbai attack, players of that country were banned from participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL), later, both these countries ended their bilateral relationships between them.

Pakistan came to India for the 2012 series before returning to the country for the 2016 T20 World Cup and then recently for the 2023 ODI World Cup. The recent meeting among the members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai proved very favorable for the Green Brigade.

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No participating country for the tournament raised any security questions regarding the Champions Trophy 2025 arrangements, which highlights that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will now have limited options to decline the Champions Trophy 2025.

Pakistan is confident of India making the trip for Champions Trophy 2025

Last year, Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup 2023 at home, but the BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who also was the chairman of the Asia Cricket Council (ACC), proposed the Hybrid Model, which helped the Rohit Sharma-led side to play all of their games in Sri Lanka, as the Babar Azam and co. made their trip, despite no being the host.

The details of the current ICC meeting have expressed that the preparations for the upcoming event were explicitly expressed, and no security concerns were raised by any of the six teams, which is now a part of the official record.

Furthermore, the foreign minister of India, S. Jaishankar, also visited Pakistan and reportedly appreciated the hospitality of the country, which recently staged the two-match red-ball series against Bangladesh and now is going through the three-match Test series against England, whose fans and players are quite satisfied with the arrangements.

The ICC, however, is concerned with the probable news of BCCI declining the trip by citing the lack of government clearance, which is why the official announcement of the schedule is yet to be released.

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A sideline meeting was expected between the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi and the BCCI official in Dubai, but a domestic political issue led to the short UAE trip of Naqvi and ended up eliminating the opportunities for any separate discussions.

Even in the past, the BCCI members have revealed that they would be able to take the final call on their participation in the Champions Trophy only if they go on to get the nod of the Indian government.