Delhi: The dispute between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) regarding the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 to be held in Pakistan next year does not seem to be resolved. The PCB had offered to adopt a hybrid model for India, but had also kept a condition that the Pakistani team would play at neutral venues in future ICC tournaments to be held in India. Now BCCI has refused to accept this condition.
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The Indian Cricket Board had earlier refused to send a team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy citing security concerns. According to a report in The Telegraph India, the board has made it clear to the ICC that the hybrid model cannot be adopted for ICC tournaments held in India, as there is no security threat in India.
Earlier, PCB had proposed under the hybrid model that all the matches of the Indian team, be it group stage, semi-finals or final, should be played in Dubai. If India is out of the group stage, the remaining matches can be held in Lahore, Pakistan. Along with this, the PCB also said that in future ICC tournaments held in India, Pakistan will play on neutral grounds and the revenue of these matches will be shared with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB).
Let us tell you that India will host many important ICC tournaments in the next decade, including the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, 2026 T20 World Cup (with Sri Lanka), 2029 Champions Trophy and 2031 ODI World Cup. Earlier, India had successfully hosted the 2023 ODI World Cup, in which Pakistan also participated.
Old controversy over hybrid model
This is not the first time that PCB has adopted the hybrid model. Pakistan had got the hosting rights of Asia Cup 2023, but under the pressure of BCCI, all the matches of the Indian team were played in Sri Lanka. In that tournament, India won the title by defeating Sri Lanka in the final, while some matches of other teams were played in Pakistan.
In such a situation, it will be interesting to see what further turn this dispute between BCCI and PCB regarding ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will take.