Pakistan To Not Play India In ICC Events, Withdraw From Champions Trophy: Report

The ongoing stand-off between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over the 2025 Champions Trophy continues to escalate. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has already informed the PCB that India will not be travelling to Pakistan for the event, further complicating the situation.

In response, the PCB has forwarded this confirmation from the ICC to the Pakistan government, and according to a report in Dawn, Pakistan is now contemplating "withdrawing" from the prestigious global tournament.

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has made it clear that Pakistan will not accept the hybrid model proposed for the tournament. Under this model, India would have played its matches at a neutral venue, away from Pakistan. However, the government of Pakistan is now seriously considering whether to instruct the PCB to withdraw from the Champions Trophy altogether.

"In such a case, one of the options the government is mulling is that of asking the PCB to ensure Pakistan don’t participate in the Champions Trophy," Dawn quoted a source familiar with the situation.

The report further suggests that the Pakistan government is taking this issue "very seriously." Additionally, the government might pressure the PCB to refrain from playing against India in any upcoming ICC or Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments until diplomatic tensions between the two countries are resolved.

This disagreement comes after the Asia Cup, originally scheduled to be hosted in Pakistan last year, was held in a hybrid model. India’s matches were played in Sri Lanka due to security concerns, and the ICC World Cup in 2023 saw Pakistan visiting India, marking the first bilateral encounter between the two countries since 2012.

As for the 2025 Champions Trophy, the eight-team tournament is set to take place from February 19 to March 9, with Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi as the host cities. However, the future of the tournament remains uncertain as the dispute continues.

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has also weighed in, stating that Pakistan might withdraw from the Champions Trophy if India refuses to play in the country. This marks a tense chapter in the decades-long rivalry between India and Pakistan, which last saw the two teams face off in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, where Pakistan emerged victorious.