The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the Champions Trophy tour schedule on Saturday. It does not include names of cities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Earlier, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the Champions Trophy tour schedule on social media on Thursday. It includes 3 cities of PoK, Hunza, Skardu and Muzaffarabad.
PCB has got the hosting rights of the Champions Trophy to be held in February 2025. His trophy tour has started from Islamabad on Saturday. Apart from the seven cities of Pakistan, this trophy will go to 7 cricket countries. The trophy will reach India on January 15-26.
As ICC posted and announced the schedule, it did not include PoK cities
There were 3 cities in PoK in PCB's schedule PCB shared a post regarding the trophy tour on its social media handle on Thursday. PCB wrote, 'The tour will start from Islamabad on November 16. The trophy will pass through many cities and will also visit beautiful places like Skardu, Hunza and Muzaffarabad in PoK.'
Objection to BCCI against PoK cities A source told news agency ANI that BCCI Secretary Jay Shah had objected to the PCB's announcement of holding the Champions Trophy tour in PoK. Shah took up the matter before the ICC. He said that there should be no political interference in this matter.
Questions on organizing the Champions Trophy, 3 reasons 1. India refused to go to Pakistan The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had refused to play the Champions Trophy in Pakistan a few days ago. The ICC gave this information to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) through an official mail.
2. PCB will not adopt hybrid model The BCCI wants Team India's matches to be held in the UAE or Dubai, though the PCB has already made it clear that it will not host the Champions Trophy in a hybrid model. The hybrid model means that the match against India in the Champions Trophy should be played at neutral venues and the rest of the tournament should be played in Pakistan.
3. UAE-South Africa may be options Pakistan may also miss out on hosting the Champions Trophy next year in February. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has given official information about this to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Pakistan has sought advice from its government in this matter.
Pakistani newspaper The Dawn quoted a PCB source as saying that if Pakistan is stripped of hosting, it may refuse to play in the tournament. If this happens, hosting rights may be awarded to South Africa and the UAE. The Indian team has not played in Pakistan since 2008 due to strained political relations.
The Champions Trophy will be played in Pakistan Pakistan is scheduled to host the Champions Trophy in February 2025, but Team India has refused to go to Pakistan.
November 15: ICC asks BCCI to give reasons for not sending Team India to Pakistan The ICC has sought a written reply from the BCCI on not sending the Indian team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. ANI quoted a report by Pakistani channel Geo News that the PCB has requested the ICC to provide a copy of India's reply.
November 12: PCB writes to ICC – Why can't Pakistan come to India? Three days ago, the Pakistan Cricket Board asked the ICC for an answer regarding Team India not going to Pakistan. According to a Cricbuzz report, a PCB spokesperson said that while India and Pakistan are not coming due to security issues, teams from New Zealand, England and Australia have visited Pakistan recently. So why is Team India facing trouble?
India did not go to Pakistan in the Asia Cup, adopted a hybrid model
The Asia Cup was played in September last year. Pakistan got the chance to host it, but India refused to go to Pakistan. After this, the ACC held the tournament in a hybrid model. All of India's matches were played in Sri Lanka and the rest of the tournament was played in Pakistan. Pakistan played its match against India in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan team came to India for ODI World Cup The Pakistan team came to India to play the ODI World Cup last year. Then on October 14, a match was played between India and Pakistan in Ahmedabad. The Indian team won this match by 7 wickets. Captain Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer scored half centuries. Jasprit Bumrah became the player of the match. He took 2 wickets for 19 runs.
- India's last tour of Pakistan was in 2008: Team India last toured Pakistan in 2008. The Indian team won that series of 3 test matches 1-0. 2 matches of this series were drawn.
- Pakistan's last tour of India in 2013: Pakistan last toured India in 2012-13. In that tour, a bilateral series of 3 ODIs and 2 T-20 matches was played. Pakistan won the ODI series 2–1, while the T20 series was tied 1–1.
India is not going to Pakistan after the terror attack in Mumbai The Indian team has not toured Pakistan since 2007-08. After the terrorist attack on Mumbai in 2008, the Indian government refused to play cricket in Pakistan. Since then both teams play only in ICC and ACC tournaments. Since 2013, both teams have played 13 ODIs and 8 T20 matches at neutral venues. During 2009, there was also a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Pakistan.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
