Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi reiterated on Monday that the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy 2025 would still be held in the country amid India’s refusal to send its team for the tournament.
Pakistan, who won the last edition of the Champions Trophy staged in England in 2017, will host the Feb 19-March 9 tournament. Due to their soured political relations, India have not visited Pakistan since 2008 and the rivals play each other only at multi-team events. Pakistan also hosted the Asia Cup last year but eventual winners India played all their matches in Sri Lanka under what the organisers called a “hybrid model”.
It was conveyed to the PCB last week by the ICC that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had informed the world governing body that its national team would not visit Pakistan for the eight-nation event.
It may be mentioned here that time is running short as the ICC by Nov 20 has to announce the Champions Trophy schedule, with all its matches set to be held at three venues in Pakistan — Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore.
Speaking to the media at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium today regarding the situation, Naqvi said: “We will achieve our target and God willing safely hold the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.”
Questioned about any correspondence from the ICC regarding Pakistan’s stance of refusing to adopt a hybrid model, he said: “We wrote a letter and await a response. We only have interaction with ICC and are awaiting its response.”
The PCB chairman said that politics should be kept separate from sports and no country should mix them, adding that he still hoped for the best.
“I think the ICC will need to think about its own credibility, that it is a body of all cricket bodies,” Naqvi added. “All the other teams who qualified for the Champions Trophy are ready to come here, no one has any issue.
“I say right now as well, that if India has any concern, they should come and talk to us, and we will alleviate their concerns because I don’t think there’s any reason for them not to come to Pakistan,” he said.
“Our stance is clear, we have said it before and we will stick to that stance.”
The PCB chairman noted that the ICC had yet to announce the match schedule, adding that he hoped it would be done soon so the PCB could make arrangements accordingly.
He also acknowledged that the PCB appointed Aqib Javed as the interim white-ball head coach after it had refuted a media report which claimed that Javed was set to replace Jason Gillespie as the head coach for all formats.
The Champions Trophy tour kicked off at a graceful ceremony in Islamabad on Saturday with the glittering trophy being displayed at various prominent landmarks in the federal capital, including Daman-e-Koh, Faisal mosque and Pakistan Monument.
