The Ministry of External Affairs clarified that there were no discussions between India’s Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar during Jaishankar’s recent visit to Pakistan.
The 2024 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit was held in Islamabad. Reports/rumours were that both talked about the possibility of an Indo-Pak bilateral cricket series.
The last bilateral series between the two teams was back in 2012 when Pakistan toured India for an ODI and T20I series. India last toured Pakistan back in the 2008 Asia Cup. Both sides only play each other in ICC or multi-nation tournaments either in India or at a neutral venue.
India (Government) has refused to play any bilateral series against Pakistan due to the tense political situation between the two countries. Earlier, rumours were that S Jaishankar and Ishaq Dar talked about the possibility of resuming cricket between the two nations.
Ministry of External Affairs clarifies, “No talks about cricket with Pakistan”
India’s Ministry of External Affairs in its briefing denied these reports of an Indo-Pak bilateral series. Randhir Jaiswal, MEA’s spokesperson said that, “No pull-aside meeting took place either, only “general talks· happened during dinner and nothing else. “S Jaishankar and Ishaq Dar reportedly sat next to each other during lunch”.
Pakistan was hopeful/optimistic that India would travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy but as mentioned earlier, it won’t be happening and India will play their matches somewhere else.
Pakistan will host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 it is very unlikely that the Indian government will allow the Indian cricket team to travel to their neighbor’s. Most likely the tournament will be played in a hybrid model with India playing their matches at a different venue and other sides playing their games in Pakistan.
The England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) top officials also said that playing the Champions Trophy without India is not an option. The Champions Trophy was last held in 2017 where Pakistan won the title by defeating India in the finals. England hosted that tournament. The tournament will be back after 7 years in 2025 and is expected to be scheduled in February-March next year.
