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The Pakistan Cricket Board has offered to consider a hybrid model, which is an important step towards breaking the impasse over the 2025 Champions Trophy. For this, the PCB has laid down the condition that this option should be proceeded with even when a global tournament is held in India. For this, the PCB has said to accept this option under a written agreement.
PCB has proposed this in meetings it had with ICC and BCCI over the weekend in Dubai. They have sought a uniform and long-term deal applicable beyond the 2025 Champions Trophy, under which they will also be given the right to play outside India during international events.
It is not yet clear whether this will be for the next three years or till the end of the current rights cycle (2031).
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3 major Men’s global tournaments till 2031 along with the Champions Trophy
During this period, India will host three men’s global tournaments – the 2026 T20 World Cup (co-hosted with Sri Lanka), the 2029 Champions Trophy, and the 2031 World Cup (co-hosted with Bangladesh) – besides hosting the women’s World Cup in 2025. Co-hosting may be a way out, but India-Pakistan matches will remain an issue.
Also, it is not within the purview of the ICC. The Asia Cup for 2025 will again be played in India. That one will also take place in October next year.
“We will do whatever is in the best interest of cricket. If another formula has to be followed, it will be followed in a fair manner. The only important thing for Pakistan is dignity. Everything else comes afterward,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told journalists in Dubai on Sunday.
“A one-sided arrangement is no longer acceptable. It cannot be that we keep going to India but they do not come to Pakistan. Whatever happens will be on the basis of equality.”
The BCCI, however, has remained mum on the issue. It would appear that they are not keen on adopting a hybrid model for their tournaments. In any case, the ICC board will examine the PCB’s proposal and make a final decision on the Champions Trophy. Both the PCB and BCCI will have to get the decision approved by their respective governments. The ICC has set December 5 as the tentative date for this meeting.
The options for the tournament remain the same as they were during the meeting held last week: either the tournament based on a hybrid model, with India playing its matches outside Pakistan; or the entire tournament will be held in another country, or the tournament will go ahead without India.
It was decided that the PCB would be given time to hold separate talks with the BCCI in order to find a solution in the last meeting. The BCCI had told the ICC that the Indian government had not given permission for the team to travel to Pakistan. Last Friday, a spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India was not keen on traveling to Pakistan due to “security concerns“. is.
“The BCCI has issued a statement, I would suggest you look at the same. They have said that there are security concerns there and hence it is unlikely that the team will go there. Please refer to the statement issued by the BCCI,” the spokesperson said during the press briefing.
The BCCI has not come out in the open with such a statement. According to the PCB, it had asked for an official clarification as to why the Indian team is not traveling but it hasn’t received any reply yet.
How long will it take to confirm the Champions Trophy model?
After the first ICC meeting, there has been a massive change in the ICC. Jay Shah, who was BCCI secretary since 2019, took over as ICC chairman on December 1. Imran Khwaja, ICC vice-chairman, has been handling the Champions Trophy issue as interim chairman. However, it is not confirmed who will represent BCCI at the next ICC board meeting.
This meeting is widely believed to be centered on the Champions Trophy. However, it has also been suggested that this could be a formal call for the start of Shah’s tenure.
Time is slipping away quite fast. The ICC has had only 77 days to the start of this tournament, and now it does face a bit of a hard situation. It hasn’t come out yet with the scheduled dates for the tournament schedule often is declared 100 days prior to the event-commenced its ticketing procedure so far for the supporters to arrive accordingly.
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