In a major development, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided not to send the India national cricket team to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. There have been plenty of speculations that have done the rounds on whether India would be going to Pakistan to compete in the mega tournament but it seems that it is not on the cards. Chances of Indian national cricket team visiting Pakistan to compete in the ICC Champions Trophy next year looked good when India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Islamabad for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in the Pakistan capital.Ā ICC Champions Trophy 2025: PCB Ready to Follow 'Hybrid Model', India Likely to Play in UAE.

Several reports also suggested that S Jaishankar had a discussion on this with his Pakistan counterpart Muhammad Ishaq Dar on India travelling to Pakistan for the premier tournament. According to a report in The Indian Express, the BCCI have cited 'security concerns' as they wrote to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), clearing their stance on this issue. Moreover, the BCCI also wanted that all of India national cricket's team's matches were shifted to Dubai. A source was quoted by the publication as saying," This has been our stance and there is no reason to change that. We have written to them and asked them to shift our games to Dubai." The Indian Cricket Board reportedly consulted with the government before arriving at this stance.Ā ICC ā€˜Satisfiedā€™ With Pakistan Cricket Board Preparations for Champions Trophy 2025.

This is not the first time in recent years that India have turned down the offer of playing in Pakistan. Earlier in 2023, the Asia Cup which was originally hosted in Pakistan, had to be played in a hybrid model with India having their matches in Sri Lanka, including the one against their archrivals. India and Pakistan do not face each other in bilateral competition at all, having done so last in 2012-13 when the Green Shirts had toured India for white-ball matches. The ICC is yet to release the schedule of ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 08, 2024 02:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).