India not to travel Pakistan for ICC Champions Trophy 2025; UAE likely hybrid venue - Reports

ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is scheduled to be played in February.

In a significant development, reports have claimed that India will not be travelling to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has informed the International Cricket Council (ICC) about the Indian government’s stance – which advises against sending the national team to Pakistan.

The tournament is scheduled to take place across three venues in Pakistan from February 19 to March 9. Recent developments have reignited the discussions over adopting a hybrid model which will see the tournament take place in Pakistan as well as another alternate location.

While both nations have faced each other in multi-team tournaments, their last bilateral series came in the year 2012 when Pakistan toured India for the three-match ODI series.

Pakistan’s stance and possible hybrid model

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi has expressed reservations regarding the hybrid model. Naqvi previously ruled out any discussions about a hybrid approach stating PCB’s preference of hosting the full tournament without any alternate venues.

However, a Plan B appears to have been pre-planned by ICC which includes Sri Lanka and UAE as front-runners as the alternate venues. The final decision on the hybrid model will depend on further communication between BCCI, ICC and PCB.

Champions Trophy 2025 – Format and competing teams

The Champions Trophy will feature eight teams – Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa.

The tournament will follow the structure of two groups of four teams leading to semi-finals and the final. Despite only 100 days remaining from the start of the tournament, formal announcement of the schedule and ticket sales are yet to be made.

The PCB has planned a official schedule announcement in Lahore once the uncertainty around the venues and playing model resolves.

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