The Champions Trophy will be the first ICC to be held in Pakistan since the 1996 ODI World Cup.
The ball is now in BCCI’s court. The final venues for the Champions Trophy 2025 have been set, and the ICC pitch curator has deemed Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi as the three stadiums fit to conduct the 8-team competition. Last week, the ICC’s security team and curator, Andy Atkinson, arrived in Pakistan to inspect which grounds would be conducive to holding the event.
Finally, three stadiums were proposed, with Lahore being the venue where India would play all of the matches if they were to come. That means the electrifying India vs Pakistan clash would be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore if the Men in Blue were to travel to Pakistan.
Preparations for ICC Champions Trophy 2025 continue 🏏
Following last month’s visit by the ICC events team, its chief curator Andy Atkinson was in Pakistan last week to inspect Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, which are identified as potential venues for the eight-team… pic.twitter.com/o8UD5Vvbr2
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) May 4, 2024
Atkinson had been aiding the ICC for some time now and was consulted for the ODI World Cup that was held in India last year. Although the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hasn’t been given the green signal by the ICC yet, this visit has reassured that they are fully committed to hosting the Champions Trophy 2025 at home.
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Will Team India travel to Pakistan after 16 years?
In what beckons to be the first ICC event that’ll be held in Pakistan since the 1996 ODI World Cup, the PCB will try anything they can to host the event. But, as of now, they are waiting for the ICC Board meeting that’ll be held in Sri Lanka in July.
From the looks of it, BCCI won’t likely send the India cricket team to Pakistan even if the ICC approves PCB’s proposal. The two neighboring nations have had major issues and haven’t played a bilateral series since Pakistan’s 2012/13 tour of India. The last time the Men in Blue traveled to Pakistan was in 2008 for the Asia Cup.
This trend will, in likelihood, continue. Although Pakistan has traveled to India multiple times since 2008, the favor hasn’t been reciprocated by the BCCI. This time around, it seems like a battle will ensue, which will be decided by which board bends its knee first.
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