India have decided they will not be travelling to Pakistan for the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy. The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) have expressed security concerns as their primary reason for not travelling to Pakistan.
They have recently communicated the same to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as well. In addition to this, the BCCI wants all of India’s matches to be played in Dubai.
There was quite a bit of talk around the possibility of the Indian team travelling to Pakistan for the first time in 17 years. The hope was built based on the meeting between S Jaishankar (India’s External Affairs Minister) and Muhammad Ishaq Dar (Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister). After the meeting, there were rumours that cricket between the two arch-rivals could possibly be revived.
In fact, there was a proposal wherein India would travel to Pakistan only on the day of the game and return back on the same day. The PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi had also admitted that the Indian fans will not have visa issues. However, all of that now seems to be void.
The BCCI source confirmed that India will not be traveling to Pakistan. That was never a possibility as they were firm on their stance of following the ‘government’s orders and protocols’.
“This has been our stance and there is no reason to change that. We have written to them [PCB] and asked them to shift our games to Dubai,” a BCCI source was quoted saying according to the Indian Express.
India last travelled to Pakistan in 2008
India last visited Pakistan back in 2008 for the Asia Cup. Since then, they have played Pakistan in only one bilateral series which was in 2012-13 which was an attempt to revive bilateral ties between the two nations.
The Champions Trophy 2025 is scheduled to be played between 19th February and 9th March. Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore are pinned as the host cities for the eight-team mega event.
Cricket in Pakistan resumed in 2019. Most teams around the world have played in Pakistan in the last five years. But with India opting against travelling to Pakistan, it’ll be interesting to see how things pan out.
Last year, Pakistan were the hosts of the Asia Cup as well. India declined to travel to Pakistan and hence, a hybrid model was adopted. India’s games were played in Sri Lanka while Pakistan hosted other games of the initial round. Sri Lanka hosted the final as well.
