'Keep egos in check and focus on its growth and spirit' - Shahid Afridi opens up on Champions Trophy conundrum

The Champions Trophy scheduled for 2025 February and March seems to have come under the scanner after the latest development standing at the Board of Control for Cricket in India refusing to send India over to Pakistan for the tournament. This decision was conveyed by the BCCI to the International Cricket Council, with the Pakistan Cricket Board understandably disgruntled with the way the flow of events has panned out.  

Former Pakistan skipper, Shahid Afridi, becomes the latest to hop on the bandwagon and express his honest thoughts on the same. The tweet that he uploaded on X was not that filled with the sentiment of hatred on the BCCI's stance of not wanting to travel to Pakistan or the ICC wanting to relocate the venue altogether. Rather, it was a message filled with genuine interest in cricket as a whole. Afridi's post urging the same ethos in cricket the same way it is during the Olympics, hoped to see every nation come over to Pakistan for the marquee event. 

Check the post below: 

Cricket is at a crucial crossroads, facing perhaps one of its greatest challenges since the late 1970s. Now is the time to put differences aside and let the game unite us. If countries once divided by history can come together in the Olympic spirit, why can’t we do the same for…

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) November 13, 2024

If India opt out of the Championship Trophy 2025 in totality, it will open the floodgates for South Africa to replace the team India in what is primed to be the first ICC tournament Pakistan will be hosting since it co-hosted the World Cup in 1996.

Also Read: Champions Trophy 2025: How much money Pakistan can lose if tournament gets shifted or postponed?

PCB asks for written explanation from BCCI

With news circulating regarding India's travel uncertainty to Pakistan for the much-awaited Champions Trophy 2025, PCB has asked for a written explanation from the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) after their travel refusal.

ICC's notification about India's travel uncertainty to Pakistan came three days before the launch event of the Champions Trophy which marked the 100-day countdown for the mega event to be held in February and March 2025.