The situation around the Champions Trophy has turned into a farce. India will not travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, and Pakistan is not willing to host the tournament in a ‘hybrid model’ as India suggests.
Moreover, there have been reports that if India does not go to Pakistan, Pakistan might boycott India. Amid these uncertainties, a new update has emerged. According to the Indian media outlet Sports Tak, India might host the Champions Trophy as well. India has not toured Pakistan since 2008. However, in recent years, almost all Test-playing nations, including Australia, England, New Zealand, and South Africa, have toured Pakistan without issues.
Therefore, the Pakistani government has announced that it will take a stricter stance on India’s decision. Following government instructions, the PCB is also planning not to play any matches against India and not to send teams to India in the future. From 2025 to 2031, four major ICC events are scheduled to be held in India. If Pakistan boycotts these events, it could create a complicated situation. However, that is a concern for later. For now, the possibility of the Champions Trophy being moved from Pakistan arises due to this threat.
South Africa has also been mentioned as a potential host for the Champions Trophy. However, due to a conflicting schedule with the SAT-20 league, this is not feasible. Therefore, Sports Tak reports that India’s name has come up as the potential host.
This will be the first ICC tournament to be held in Pakistan in 29 years. The last ICC tournament in Pakistan was the 1996 World Cup, for which Pakistan was a co-host. Pakistan was very excited about hosting this tournament, and renovation work on the stadiums is still ongoing.
However, as the tournament approaches, concerns about it taking place in Pakistan are growing. If the tournament does not happen in Pakistan, the country is expected to suffer a financial loss of 5.48 billion rupees. According to the current schedule, the tournament is set to be played from February 19 to March 9.
In the last Asia Cup, India did not send their team to Pakistan. During that tournament, while other matches were held in Pakistan, India’s matches were hosted in Sri Lanka. However, Pakistan has since played in the ODI World Cup in India. Therefore, Pakistan might have hoped that India would now come to Pakistan. However, India wants to play the Champions Trophy in a hybrid model.
