The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wanted to find some middle ground with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding their Champions Trophy 2025 stalemate. PCB suggested since the India cricket team won’t travel to Pakistan, they won’t send the Pakistan cricket team to India either. Instead, they’ll host the upcoming India vs Pakistan matches in Dubai, UAE.
BCCI rejects PCB’s offer for ICC events
For the next three years, all the International Cricket Council (ICC) matches between the arch-rivals will be played in a neutral venue. The formula, which some labelled as ‘partnership or fusion,’ was floated towards the ICC and BCCI. Initially, both the boards gave a positive response, but since the BCCI has rejected it.
PCB feels that they presented a fair solution, and it’s not their fault for not accepting BCCI’s demands since they aren’t ready to meet them midway. For the unaware, India will host two ICC tournaments in the coming years: the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 and the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
“We have presented a fair solution. If India does not accept it, they cannot expect us to send our team there in the future. If an ICC event is held in India, their team would also need to play finals or key matches in Dubai, ensuring parity,” a PCB source told Cricket Pakistan.
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The PCB-BCCI stalemate
The ‘partnership or fusion’ model came about after the ICC meeting regarding the scheduling of the Champions Trophy 2025 ended in just 15 minutes with neither BCCI nor PCB backing down from their stances. The PCB wanted to host the 8-team tournament entirely while the BCCI was adamant about not sending Team India to Pakistan.
A different hybrid model has been advised by the PCB, but we stand where we were about a couple of months ago with no progress made.
