After several confrontations and negotiations, ICC finally got the formal approval to organize the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in hybrid model on Thursday.

Also Read: Breaking: Ravichandran Ashwin retires from international cricket

Pakistan to face India at neutral venues in all ICC events

ICC announced that for this tournament to be held in February-March next year, Indian Cricket Team's matches will be played at a neutral venue instead of Pakistan, which BCCI was demanding from the beginning. In return, Pakistan will only face India at neutral venues in all ICC events from 2024-28.

The agreement will see Pakistan play all matches at neutral venues in the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup in India, the 2026 T20 World Cup to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The agreement could also apply to the 2028 Women's T20 World Cup, which is the first tournament of the next event cycle and has now been awarded to Pakistan. The neutral venue will be proposed by the tournament's host board and will need to be approved by the ICC.

Hosting will remain entirely with Pakistan

However, its hosting will remain entirely with Pakistan. BCCI had expressed concern about security and had said about not getting permission from the Government of India, but ICC has accepted it. The Pakistan Cricket Board had initially shown an adamant stance and said that it would not accept the hybrid model at any cost and if this happened, it could even withdraw its name. But after a long discussion a solution has been found.

How did the controversy start?

ICC had handed over the hosting of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy to Pakistan 3 years ago i.e. in November 2021. For the first time since 1996, PCB was given the responsibility of ICC tournaments. After this, in January 2022, the Government of Pakistan gave permission to build a new stadium in Islamabad.

Then in April 2024, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced to hold the tournament in the already existing stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi instead of the new stadium and drafted the schedule of the tournament in July. After this, ICC released a fund of 65 million dollars for the tournament in August and the very next month Pakistan started the repair work of the stadium.

Till now nothing was said from BCCI. However, considering the relationship between the two countries, everyone was aware of the dispute and the same thing happened. As the tournament came closer, reports started emerging that BCCI has told ICC that it will not send Team India to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the rhetoric continued towards the former cricketers of both the countries. Many Indian cricketers including Harbhajan Singh were instructed not to go there.

The issue heated up in November

The issue of Champions Trophy again heated up in November, when BCCI refused ICC to officially send Team India and demanded a hybrid model. Immediately after this, Mohsin Naqvi protested and said that this is not acceptable to the PCB at any cost. Not only this, on November 10, PCB also discussed this issue with the Pakistan government. The schedule of the tournament was to be announced on November 11, which was canceled by the ICC.

Also Read: What each team needs to do to qualify for the WTC final

No series between India and Pakistan since 2012

5 matches of Champions Trophy have been taken away from Pakistan. Pakistan Cricket Board has demanded compensation for this. ICC has also accepted this demand. There has been no series between India and Pakistan since 2012, both teams have clashed only in ICC and Asia Cup.

Latest Stories

Subscribe Newsletter