"Indian team should come.." PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi "confident" of hosting all teams for Champions Trophy 2025

India are unlikely to visit Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi is optimistic that the Indian cricket team will visit Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025.

Pakistan are scheduled to host the tournament, and in PCB’s draft submitted to the ICC, the tournament is drafted to run from February 19 to March 9. To avoid the logistical challenges of travelling, PCB has drafted India to play all their matches in Lahore, including the semi-final and final, should they reach that stage.

However, the Indian team is unlikely to get clearance from the government to travel to Pakistan due to political tensions between the two nations.

In that case, a hybrid-model, akin to the Asia Cup 2023, could be used where India’s matches would be played outside Pakistan.

I don’t see Indian team cancel or postpone coming here: Mohsin Naqvi

Naqvi has stated confident words about India’s potential arrival in Pakistan.

“The Indian team should come. I don’t see them cancel or postpone coming here and we are confident we will host all the teams in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan,” Naqvi said in Lahore, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

The preparations for the tournament are ongoing with the stadiums being renovated.

“The stadiums will also be ready to host the matches on schedule and any remaining work would be completed after the tournament. In a way, you can say that we are going to have a brand new stadium,” he added.

India’s Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar will be on a trip to Pakistan on October 15-16 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) conclave. However, the PCB chief said he won’t discuss the Champions Trophy matter with Jaishankar.

“He is coming but I don’t think the details of his meetings have been set,” Naqvi said.

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