Pakistan and PCB is facing a double-edged sword. On one hand, India has made its intentions clear about not visiting the country for the Champions Trophy 2025, and on the other, they are under a severe risk of losing a big chunk of money, and face ICC sanctions as well.
PCB on Back Foot, Champions Trophy Poses Problem
PCB is adamant that it will not host the Champions Trophy in hybrid model, while the BCCI is in no mood to send Team India to Pakistan. In fact, the Pakistani board sent a letter to the ICC asking for India’s stance. The last time India went to Pakistan was during 2008 Asia Cup, and the last bilateral series between the two was in 2012-13, when they had come here.
Even the Asia Cup 2023 hosted by Pakistan had a similar issue, where India’s matches were moved to Sri Lanka. But now, as per a report in Cricbuzz, if Pakistan continues to be rigid to India’s request, they could be in deep trouble. If the Champions Trophy gets affected, then it may bring ICC sanctions for them. If they withdraw, their funding could be cut massively.
Apart from that, moving it or postponing the tournament could mean a loss of USD 65 million — the host fees. PCB has also spend considerable amount on the upgradation of their three stadiums — Karachi, Rawalpindi, and Lahore.
Rigid PCB
The PCB has conveyed to the ICC that security is not an issue in the country which successfully hosted England and New Zealand recently and promised the same for the Champions Trophy. As per PTI, PCB is not interested in hosting the tournament is UAE also, that is a large part of the issue.
In fact, as per their government, they might boycott future ICC events where India is participating, if the latter fail to turn up for the event.
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