ICC Champions Trophy 2025: If there is one thing that is being discussed the most in the cricket world at this time, then it is the ICC Champions Trophy tournament to be held in early 2025. The PCB has got the right to host this tournament which is being held after 7 years, but the BCCI has officially informed the ICC that Team India will not go to Pakistan to play this upcoming tournament.
After this, the ICC has proposed to the PCB to organize the tournament on a hybrid model where India will play in Dubai, but they are not ready for this either. After which, the ICC is considering to organize this tournament in some other country, in which the name of South Africa came at the forefront of the race, but now it seems difficult to organize the tournament there as well.
While the Pakistan Cricket Board has clearly refused to organize the Champions Trophy 2025 on a hybrid model, in this situation the only option left is to organize it somewhere else. The name of South Africa came at the forefront of this race, but the third season of SA20 is to be played there in early 2025, the official schedule of which has been announced.
SA20 will start from January 9 and the final match will be played on February 8, in which its matches will be played in Centurion, Gqebarha, Durban, Paarl, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Although the official schedule of the Champions Trophy has not been announced, it is believed that it will start from February 19.
If a decision is taken to hold the tournament in Africa, then the pitches of these stadiums will not be fully ready for the matches. ICC prepares the pitches and stadiums for its tournaments in advance so that things can be prepared according to their standards, but in this situation, nothing like this seems to be happening, due to which it is very difficult to hold the tournament in South Africa.
Champions Trophy case has now taken a different turn. This ICC tournament can now be organized in India and not Pakistan. This update has come at a time when India and Pakistan are face to face over the Champions Trophy and the PCB has even threatened that if Team India does not come to Pakistan to play the Champions Trophy, then it will not play any match with it in the future.
If Pakistan withdraws from the Champions Trophy, then the entire tournament can be shifted out of Pakistan. Recently, South Africa was being seen as a potential host of the Champions Trophy, but according to some reports, the option of South Africa is now over because the SA20 League will conclude a few days before the Champions Trophy and the pitches will not be repaired in time.
Few reports also claims that if Pakistan withdraws from the tournament or refuses to accept the hybrid model where all the matches of Indian team will be scheduled in Dubai, then its hosting can be handed over to India. In this regard, the BCCI has also prepared an official letter that it does not want to send its team across the border due to security reasons.
After the Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008, the Indian team has never gone to play any match or series in Pakistan. The Champions Trophy 2025 is going to be the first ICC tournament in the last 29 years that Pakistan will host. But due to India’s stance, Pakistan’s wait may go on for longer. The last ICC event held in Pakistan was the 1996 World Cup.
The official schedule of the Champions Trophy was to be released by the ICC on November 11, but after Team India’s refusal, it has been postponed. It was also discussed in the ICC meeting held on November 12, in which, many ideas have not been put forward yet regarding holding the tournament in South Africa. ICC is trying to officially finalize everything soon.