Reports: BCCI informs ICC that India won’t travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy

The chances of Pakistan hosting the Champions Trophy 2025 were dealt a huge blow when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to send the Indian team. Given the political tension between the two countries, it was always on the cards, but the BCCI sent an email to the ICC informing them of their decision.

According to Cricbuzz, BCCI sent an email last week regarding the same. If India pull out of travelling to Pakistan, then there might be a hybrid model to host the tournament. 

"The PCB has received an email from the ICC, stating that the BCCI has informed them that their team will not travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The PCB has forwarded that email to the Government of Pakistan for their advice and guidance," a PCB spokesperson said, reported Cricbuzz.

But PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi insisted that no such conversation has occurred yet regarding hosting the tournament in a hybrid model.

"No discussions have been held regarding a hybrid model as of today, and we are not ready to discuss such a model," Naqvi told reporters recently in Lahore last week.

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra, too, weighed in on this debate, stating that India shouldn’t travel to Pakistan purely for security reasons. 

"It has been decided that India won't go to Pakistan, and this is not the BCCI's decision. Let's make it very, very clear. India's cricket team doesn't decide where and when they will go when we talk about Pakistan, for the other places. It's fine. However, if you are going to Pakistan, it's not the BCCI's but the Indian government's decision,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel. 

"They have communicated that they will not give the permission to go there. So India are not going. In a way, they (Pakistan) have themselves to blame. Yesterday only I saw that there was a bomb blast in a railway station in Quetta, and then whatever Pakistan are involved in when we talk about India, especially Kashmir.”

As it stands, the tournament's future is in big jeopardy, with the ICC yet to announce the schedule. 

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