The Indian team has decided against traveling to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and will instead urge the International Cricket Council to relocate the matches to Sri Lanka or Dubai, as per a BCCI source speaking to ANI. The tournament is scheduled to take place in Pakistan from February to March 2025. India has refrained from participating in cricket events held in Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup, citing strained relations between the two countries. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan took place in December 2012 to January 2013 in India. Since then, their encounters have been limited to ICC tournaments and the Asia Cup.
Concerns over India’s participation in the upcoming tournament have been raised due to the ongoing tensions between the two countries.
While the Pakistan Cricket Board proposed for India to play all matches in one city, specifically Lahore, ESPNcricinfo reported that India was not keen on traveling to Pakistan. The BCCI source reiterated to ANI, “India will not travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025 and will request ICC to relocate the matches to Dubai or Sri Lanka.”
BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla had previously stated that India would only participate in the tournament if approved by the central government.
During last year’s Asia Cup, a similar situation arose with India playing all matches in Sri Lanka, including the final which they won in Colombo. The defending champions Pakistan had hinte at a hybrid approach for the ODI World Cup held in India the previous year, but it was never considered.
Pakistan had won the last edition of the Champions Trophy in 2017.
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