The focus in world cricket will shift to white ball at the start of 2025, which will see the return of ICC Champions Trophy; but some of the former Pakistan players are not at ease and feel that the tournament’s hybrid model hands an ‘unfair’ advantage to India.
Pakistan is the official host nation of the tournament, but the Indian government’s refusal to send its team to Pakistan led to a standoff that took a long time to resolve.
After several meetings, the deadlock ended with a mutual agreement between the International Cricket Council (ICC), Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that the tournament will be conducted in a hybrid model and India will play all their matches, including the semifinal and the final if they qualify, in Dubai.
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Additionally, Pakistan’s demand for a similar arrangement for the 2026 T20 World Cup to be hosted by India was also agreed upon.
Besides India’s matches in Dubai, the rest of the tournament will be played at three venues in Pakistan — Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi. However, some of the former Pakistan players see this as “unfair” to the other participating teams.
“India is the only team that knows where it will play the semi-finals and the final, while the other teams will only know that once the group stage is completed,” former Pakistan bowler Salim Altaf told ‘Dawn’.
The other teams in India’s pool are Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand, who will have to travel to Dubai for their respective match against India.
Former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam agreed with Altaf, saying while India will be at an advantage, playing in similar conditions at the same venue throughout the tournament, they also don’t have to worry about travel and logistics.
“Like other teams, India will not go from venue to venue,” Alam said while talking to Dawn.
“It will avoid the logistics of travel besides getting similar kinds of pitches and cricketing environment at one venue. It is not fair on the other teams. It’s surprising for me that the other cricket boards did not raise any objection,” he added.
The Champions Trophy will run from February 19 to March 9, with the much anticipated India vs Pakistan match scheduled for February 23.
