Dubai . The ICC has called an emergency meeting of its board on November 26 to discuss the 2025 Champions Trophy. ESPN Cricinfo has learned that the only agenda of the meeting is whether to adopt a hybrid model for the tournament, with it being held in Pakistan and some other country.
Less than 100 days are left for the possible start of the tournament. Host Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has scheduled it to be held from February 19 to March 9. However, ICC has not released the schedule yet. But there is an even bigger hurdle facing it. BCCI has informed ICC that the Indian government has not given permission for Rohit Sharma's team to travel to Pakistan. Pakistan was awarded the hosting rights of this eightteam ODI tournament in November 2021 and is adamant to stage the entire tournament across three venues – Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi.
Speaking to the media in Pakistan this week, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi had said that he had “positive expectations” about the Champions Trophy being held in Pakistan. Naqvi, who also heads the Pakistan government's home ministry, said he was ready to communicate with the BCCI to break the impasse. The PCB is waiting to hear from the ICC as to why India cannot be allowed to travel to Pakistan.”
This is the second consecutive year that Pakistan has had to grapple with the question of holding the tournament on a hybrid model because of India. Last year, India had also refused to go to Pakistan for the Asia Cup, due to which the tournament had to be organized in Pakistan and Sri Lanka on a hybrid model. Soon after Pakistan had to travel to India for the ODI World Cup, the PCB had recently said that it had taken this decision so that it would get a solid basis for hosting the Champions Trophy only in Pakistan. Earlier this week, India had to withdraw its name from the T20 Blind Cricket World Cup because the Indian team could not get permission from the government to go to Pakistan.
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Image Credit: KhasKhabar.