Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi is sure that the Champions Trophy 2025 will be hosted by Pakistan and all teams, including India, will take part in the tournament.
The Champions Trophy is expected to begin on February 19, and the final match to be held on March 9, and the selected cities for cricket match venue are Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi.
Since July 2008 India cricket team didn’t visit Pakistan because political terms between the two countries were not good. The teams have not participated in a bilateral series since 2011.
However, Mohsin Naqvi is sure that India will send their cricket team to Pakistan next year and that the arrangements are on line-up. He further stated that the stadiums would “definitely” be in a much better shape to host the ICC tournament.
The Indian team should come. I don’t see them cancel or postpone coming here and we are confident we will host all the teams in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan,” he said in Lahore.
“The stadiums will also be ready to host the matches on schedule and any remaining work would be completed after the tournament. In a way, you can say that we are going to have a brand new stadium.”
Naqvi was also questioned that he would meet S.Jaishankar, the Minister of External Affairs of India, who will come to Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) conference on October 15-16, but he played it down.
“He is coming but I don’t think the details of his meetings have been set.” BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla had recently declared that the decision about India visiting Pakistan for the Champions Trophy will be finalised by the Indian government.
For international tours, Our policy is that we always prefer the consent of the government. It’s up to the government to decide whether our team should go on any foreign tour or not, Shukla told reporters.
Naqvi was also questioned about Babar Azam’s resignation from cricket team’s captaincy and who will lead the team now to which the PCB chief said that he had told the selection committee to take their time and make a long-term decision.
“I have told them to take a decision after careful consideration because the captain’s position is important.”
Naqvi also said that he had inquired from the selection committee – including the captain and head coach of the teams – whether it was the right time to introduce some fresh blood in the national sides. “They said they are okay with the current set-up of players so I told them ‘fine, it is your call’.
It is eminent to mention that India did not travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023. As a result, the hybrid model was suggested and half of the games took place in Sri Lanka.
As of now, teams like England, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa have visited Pakistan. If India comes to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025, it would be an amazing moment for the team and the nation.
