Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Want to Travel to Pakistan For 2025 Champions Trophy?

Lahore: With the 2025 Champions Trophy around the corner, there are massive speculations over will the Indian cricket team travel across the border to play their matches. While speculations grow, out-of-favour Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali has claimed that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and other Indian cricketers want to come to Pakistan and play. Ali claimed that in interviews in the past, the two Indian cricketers have gone on to make the claim.

There is nothing official from Rohit, Kohli or the BCCI on the subject. 

Hasan Ali reveals there are several Indian players who want to come to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy. He also said that Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli did agree to visit Pakistan in their interviews pic.twitter.com/5ggM1Jycri

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) July 25, 2024

While Rohit has not visited Pakistan for cricket, Kohli did go to the neighbouring country as an U-19 cricketer in 2006.

“As our Chairman has already said, if the Champions Trophy is going to be held in Pakistan, then it will be in Pakistan. If India don’t want to come, we’ll play without them,” Ali had told Samaa TV earlier.

Meanwhile, the PCB has left it up to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to convince the BCCI to send its team to Pakistan for the upcoming champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in the first quarter of next year. According to a PCB source, while the budget for the Champions Trophy was approved at the recent ICC meetings in Colombo, the schedule and format didn’t come up for discussion at all.

“The PCB now has done what was required of it as hosts of the Champions Trophy. It has submitted the draft schedule and format for the event and also submitted budget for the event,” a PCB insider said. “It is now up to the ICC how soon they circulate, discuss and finalize the schedule of the Champions Trophy. The PCB for its part in the draft schedule has suggested hosting all of India’s games in Lahore including a semi-final (if India qualifies) and final,” he said.