PCB to collaborate with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka boards for hosting two ODI World Cups

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wants to have a partnership of sorts with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to bid for hosting two ODI World Cups in 2027 and 2031. PCB has also been in talks with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) which looks after matters in the UAE to host two T20 World Cups together.

Pakistan has also expressed its desire to host two Champion Trophy events on its own in the next world cricket cycle apart from the above-mentioned. On Saturday, in a report which was published after talks with the PCB, it was confirmed that PCB has bid for six global events, two of which have been proposed in collaboration with South Asian boards.

“We have made bids before the ICC and proposed to form consortiums with the Bangladesh and Sri Lanka boards,” PCB chairman Ehsan Mani said as quoted by Cricbuzz. “Similarly we want to have collaboration with the UAE board too.” 

To win the bid to host these events, Pakistan will be going against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has expressed the desire to host the 2025 Champions Trophy, 2028 T20 World Cup, and 2031 50-over World Cup. It has been 25 years that Pakistan has not hosted a global event and several factors have created this situation. 

The last time Pakistan hosted a World event match was the 1996 World Cup final

The last time Pakistan hosted a World Cup event was way back in 1996. At the time, there was a joint committee formed between PCB, BCCI, and the SLC. The committee was called PILCOM (Pakistan India Lanka committee). Pakistan had got the rights to even hosting the final of the 1996 World Cup in Lahore. 

In 2011, when the World Cup returned to the sub-continent, Pakistan was initially a part of the plan. However, due to security concerns, Pakistan had to pull out its association with BCCI, SLC, and BCB. The 2008 Champions Trophy was initially supposed to be hosted by Pakistan but had to be shifted to 2009 and then out of the country to South Africa, due to similar reasons.

The ICC recently confirmed that 17 boards have expressed interest to stage events from 2024 to 2031. The countries which have submitted their interests are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, UAE, USA, and Zimbabwe. The deadline for placing the bids was June 30. The ICC will announce its final decisions by the end of this year.