Pakistan would host 10 games in the tournament while the highly-anticipated match-up against India is set to take place in Dubai.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have reportedly agreed with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 to be held in a hybrid model with all of India’s games set to take place in Dubai.
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According to a report by India Today, Pakistan would host 10 games in the tournament while the highly-anticipated match-up against India is set to take place in Dubai along with the rest of India’s games. In addition, if India is knocked out at the end of the league stages, the knockout games will take place in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
In addition, the BCCI and the PCB have an agreement in principle that Pakistan would not travel to India for the 2026 T20 World Cup for the India vs Pakistan match. Their games would take place in Sri Lanka as they are co-hosts.
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The report also suggested that the PCB will not get compensation for not being able to host the tournament but would get to host an ICC Women’s tournament after 2027.
The report suggested the PCB wanted to play their games in Colombo with the venues for the semi-final and final, yet to be finalised.
But another report by PTI claims that the move is yet to be finalised. This report claims that both India and Pakistan have an agreement in principle that they would not travel to the other country for ICC events.
“There’s a virtual meeting tomorrow which ICC chairman Jay Shah will join from Brisbane. It is expected that ICC will make an official announcement after that,” an ICC official told PTI.
The tournament is set to begin from February 19 to March 9. The eight participating teams will be divided into two groups where each of the top two teams will progress to the semi-final.
The ACC Men’s Asia Cup in 2023 was also hosted in a similar hybrid format with Pakistan playing their first few games at home while India played their games in Sri Lanka.
Despite the report, an official announcement is yet to be made regarding the hosting of the tournament that makes its return after seven years. Pakistan come into the tournament as the defending champions having won the 2017 edition by beating India by a mammoth margin of 180 runs.
India and Australia are the most successful sides in this tournament having won two titles each. The Indian team shared the title with Sri Lanka in 2002 and won it in 2013. Australia won their titles in 2006 and 2009.
