Reports: Team India may not travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025

Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, has indicated that they would consider a bilateral series with India if they agree to send their team to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. In 2021, Pakistan was designated as the host of the Champions Trophy next year. This marks a major event in the country, as it will be the first time since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan national cricket team that Pakistan will solely host a global event.

As per the sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), team India may opt out of travelling to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy. They have added that there might be considerations to either shift the venue or implement a hybrid model. The source also said that obtaining government permission for travel to Pakistan is critical, and given the existing strained relations between both countries, this approval might be problematic.  Additionally, the prospect of a bilateral series with Pakistan appears unlikely in the foreseeable future.

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"Forget bilateral series...Team India may not even travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. There might be a change of venue, so a hybrid model is also possible. The Indian board would need permission from the government for travel, currently our relations with Pakistan are not that good either. Champions Trophy is an ICC event, so it would be a tough call for India but nothing without the government's order/green signal. Bilateral series, I don't see in the near future, that's next to impossible," the sources in BCCI were quoted as saying by NDTV.

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The last bilateral limited-overs series between India and Pakistan took place in 2012-13 in India. In 2023, India refused to travel to Pakistan to take part in the Asia Cup. Consequently, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) adopted a hybrid model for the event, with Sri Lanka being the co-host alongside Pakistan. Notably, encounters between India and Pakistan occur primarily during ICC and continental events, with their most recent meeting was during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup at Ahmedabad.