Amidst speculations of whether India will travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025 or not, the Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi has said that he is not even thinking that the tournament will be held outside Pakistan.
The PCB chief Naqvi revealed that he had talks with the BCCI secretary Jay Shah on the sidelines of the ICC meetings in the previous week in Dubai. "Yes we spoke for a while and it was cordial but it would be unwise to divulge details of what was discussed," he said.
He was asked if India's reluctance to travel to Pakistan could make the tournament shift out of the country. To this, he replied that he is confident that the event will be held in Pakistan only as per schedule. "I am not even thinking on those lines we are confident we will host the Champions Trophy on schedule in Pakistan," he added.
Naqvi's comments come after an ICC member had stated that cricket's world body won't force India to go against the government policy that bars the team from traveling to Pakistan. The ICC member also said the world body would look for alternatives in this case. "Every member can raise concerns for discussion at Board meetings and then it would go to a vote. But if the government (of a member nation) expressly say that they can't play there, ICC would need to look for an alternative," an official told PTI.
"....because ICC Board's position remains that it doesn't expect its members to go against any policy/instructions issued by its own government," he added.
The PCB chief said that three stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, which will host the tournament, would undergo renovation. "Even as I speak plans have been drawn up and work will begin soon on these three stadiums to give the fans the best experience of watching the matches at the venues," he added.
India did not travel to their neighbouring nation for the Asia Cup 2023 and the tournament was held in a hybrid model.
