The International Cricket Council (ICC) has intimated the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that the Indian team will not be travelling for the 2025 Champions Trophy. The official confirmation comes after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) consulted with the Indian government on touring Pakistan.
Earlier, BCCI had informed ICC about their decision, but the PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi demanded a written letter about the same. Now, ahead of the announcement of the final schedule, the Indian apex board has written a mail to the ICC confirming their decision to not travel to Pakistan.
A PCB spokesperson validated the development and revealed that PCB has forwarded the mail to the Pakistan government, and are waiting for their answer.
“The PCB has received an email from the ICC, stating that the BCCI has informed them that their team will not travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The PCB has forwarded that email to the Government of Pakistan for their advice and guidance,” a PCB spokesperson said.
The much-awaited Champions Trophy returns after eight years, which will see the participation of eight teams. It will be the first ICC event Pakistan is slated to host after being the joint-hosts to 1996 World Cup along with India and Sri Lanka.
The efforts of former PCB chief Ramiz Raja reaped fruit in 2021, as they convinced the ICC of successfully hosting the event. As a result, the then ICC chair Greg Barclay awarded Pakistan with hosting rights of 2025 Champions Trophy.
Pakistan secured a title victory in 2017 Champions Trophy
The last edition of the Champions Trophy took place in June 2017 in England. India and Pakistan were clubbed in the same group along with South Africa and Sri Lanka.
The Men in Blue prevailed by 124 runs and eight wickets over Pakistan and South Africa, respectively. However, they failed to defend a 322-run target against Sri Lanka. However, they still topped the points table due to a better net run rate than Pakistan, who also won two games.
Then, Pakistan got better of England by eight wickets, while India beat Bangladesh by nine wickets in their respective semi-final games.
In the final, the Men in Green posted a handsome total of 338, courtesy of Fakhar Zaman’s 114-run knock and fifties from Azhar Ali and Mohammad Hafeez.
In response, India were rocked by double strikes from Mohammad Amir, who dismissed Rohit Sharma (0) and Virat Kohli (5). Although, Shikhar Dhawan (21) and Yuvraj Singh (22) got starts, they couldn’t convert them into a substantial knock.
In the end, Hardik Pandya played a valiant knock of 76 off 43, before getting run-out in the 27th over. As a result, Pakistan went on to win the game by 180 runs and also lifted the Champions Trophy. Amir and Hasan Ali scalped three wickets apiece for them.
