India not to travel to Pakistan for ICC Champions Trophy 2025, THIS city given as alternative…

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have communicated to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that team India will not be travelling to Pakistan to take part in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 tournament next year. India have informed them that they want to play all of their games in Dubai, a media report said.

“This has been our stance and there is no reason to change that. We have written to them and asked them to shift our games to Dubai,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by Indian Express newspaper.

INDIA WON’T TRAVEL PAKISTAN.

– The BCCI has communicated with the PCB that due to security concerns, they won’t travel to Pakistan for 2025 Champions Trophy. Their desire is to play all their games in Dubai. (Express Sports). pic.twitter.com/y3QAji7nVE

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 8, 2024

The top 8 teams of the world are set to take part in the February 19 to March 9, 2025 50-overs ICC event that has Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi as its host cities. According to the Indian Express report, the BCCI has continued to stick to its stand over Pakistan ‘in consultation with the government’. Last year before the Asia Cup 2023, India despite the pressure from hosts Pakistan, had managed to shift their matches to Sri Lanka.

The decision comes after hopes were raised for normal cricketing ties to resume between the two neighbours after last month’s meeting between India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting at Islamabad.

This was the first direct conversation of this level since 2015 between India and Pakistan. The PCB was trying to pull out all stops to convince India to make the trip to Pakistan for this major ICC event. The Pakistan board had given the BCCI the option of their team returning to India after every game. The last time India toured Pakistan was in the 2008 Asia Cup.

A PCB source told PTI news agency, “The PCB feels that even if Indian government does not clear the tour to Pakistan slight adjustments can be made to the schedule, as in all probability India would play their matches in Dubai or Sharjah.

“The PCB has discussed with the ICC the tentative schedule which they sent some months back and wants the same schedule announced on 11 November,” the source said.