The next edition of the Champions Trophy is set to take place in 2025 in February-March. As of now, the hosting rights of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 are with Pakistan. The PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) has also proposed a draft schedule of the tournament to the ICC (International Cricket Council), which includes all the matches in Pakistan. The draft also includes Team India’s games as well. But, a former legendary Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has a different opinion on Team India travelling to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025. He said it’s not safe for the Indian players as the security in Pakistan is still volatile.
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Today, we will talk about it in detail and see what more Harbhajan Singh has added about his statement on Team India not traveling to Pakistan. So let’s dive into it quickly.
ICC approved Champions Trophy 2025 hosting rights to Pakistan
The ICC has approved the hosting rights of the Champions Trophy 2025 to Pakistan before. It is important to know that 1996 was the last time when Pakistan hosted an ICC tournament. Since then, they haven’t gotten the opportunity to host an ICC tournament in the country due to security reasons. There were multiple attacks during the different teams touring Pakistan, and that hampers the reputation of the country, and didn’t get the opportunity to host any ICC event. Even bilateral cricket in Pakistan was stopped for so many years. In the last few years, the revival of bilateral cricket and PSL happened just a few years ago.
The ICC approved the Champions Trophy 2025 rights with the aim of global fan engagement, neutral governance, encouraging cricket and its infrastructure in Pakistan, etc. They have also assessed the security and safety concerns of the players and decided to approve the rights to PCB.
Will Team India travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025?
It is highly unlikely that Team India will travel to Pakistan to play CT 2025. That’s because of the obvious reasons of the Indian government’s not allowing BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to send Team India to Pakistan. The Indian government won’t allow BCCI to go to Pakistan because of the terrorism across the border and political tensions between the two countries.
Harbhajan Singh also thinks the same A legendary Indian off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh also thinks the same about Team India not going to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025. He thinks that Team India shouldn’t go to
Pakistan as it is not safe. A legendary off-spinner also said the safety of the players is the foremost priority and he supports BCCI’s stand.
“Why should the Indian team go to Pakistan? There is a safety concern in Pakistan. The situation in Pakistan is such that incidents occur almost every day. I don’t think it’s safe (for the team) to go there. The stance of the BCCI is correct and nothing is more important than the safety of our players. I support BCCI’s stand.” – Harbhajan told IANS.
Champions Trophy 2025 trying hard to host a tournament in Pakistan
However, Pakistan is trying hard to host the tournament in Pakistan. They insisted that they will host all Team India games in Lahore so that they don’t have to travel across different states. Being in one city would make it easier to provide foolproof security to the Indian team.
Furthermore, the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore’s neighboring property has been owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with plans to build a five-star hotel on it. According to sources, PCB intends to build the hotel itself and hopes to have it finished by the beginning of next year.
According to PCB sources, the recently built five-star hotel will remove the requirement for teams to stay in far-off hotels, which will stop road closures for security.
No bilateral series between India and Pakistan in the last 12 years
The two countries haven’t played any bilateral series for the last 12 years. India and Pakistan played their last bilateral series in 2012-13. Pakistan visited India to play 3 ODIs and a T20I.
It is also important to know that India didn’t travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup last year in 2023. A hybrid model was applied and most of the tournament (including India’s games and the final) happened in Sri Lanka.
Moreover, Pakistan did play the two WCs in India in 2016 and 2023. They came to India in 2016 to play a T20 WC and in 2023 to play an ODI WC.
Conclusion
So this is all about Harbhajan’s statement on the Indian team not traveling to Pakistan. If India won’t go to Pakistan, either a hybrid model will be implemented again or maybe the whole tournament might be shifted from Pakistan. If a hybrid model is applied, Sri Lanka or UAE might be the possible venues for CT 2025. Let’s see how things panned out.
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FAQs:-
(1) Which ICC event did Pakistan host the last time?
Pakistan co-hosted the ICC ODI World Cup in 1996, along with Sri Lanka and India.
(2) Who hosted the ICC Champions Trophy 2017?
England and Wales hosted the CT 2017, which Pakistan won by beating India in the final.
(3) How many Champions Trophys India has won till now? India has won the ICC Champions Trophy title in 2013. They were also the joint winners in 2002 CT along with Sri Lanka