Team India may not travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy next year, and the event’s venue will most likely be changed or a hybrid format utilised, BCCI sources informed IANS on Tuesday. They also stated that a bilateral series with the neighbours is “unlikely” in the near future.
Mohsin Naqvi, head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), allegedly stated on Monday that if India sends their squad to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, the PCB will consider a bilateral series.
However, sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said, “Forget bilateral series…Team India may not even travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. There might be a change of venue, s 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,” sources told IANS. “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 last bilateral limited-overs series between India and Pakistan took place in 2012-13, when Pakistan visited India.
Last year, India refused to send a team to the Asia Cup in Pakistan, forcing the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) to adopt a hybrid arrangement for the event, with the vast bulk of the matches taking place in Sri Lanka.
