ICC exploring more options for hosting Champions Trophy 2025: Sources

Representation image (Pic: File Pic)

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is looking at other options to host the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, as per sources. Initially, Pakistan held the hosting right for the mega event.

According to the sources, the hosting rights stay with Pakistan.

ICC is either looking to have the Champions Trophy go ahead in Pakistan or to organize in Pakistan as well as United Arab Emirates (UAE). If ICC agrees to this hybrid mode, then Team India will likely play their matches and knock out games in Dubai.

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The sources further stated that the other option could be the entire Champions Trophy to take place outside Pakistan with Dubai, Sri Lanka and South Africa likely to be the possible venues.

Pakistan has not hosted any major International Cricket Council (ICC) event since the 1996 ODI World Cup, which it co-hosted with India and Sri Lanka. It was supposed to co-host the 2011 edition of the tournament, but its rights were stripped after a terror attack on a touring Sri Lanka side's bus back in 2009. The tournament was then played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairperson Mohsin Naqvi said, "Naqvi said, "Indian team mujhe puri umeed hai... Abhi tak koi aisi cheej nahi hai jiski wajeh se vo postpone karey ya cancel karey. Toh sari teams aayengi (Team India will come to play the Champions Trophy, all the teams will come)."

India has not travelled to Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup, but Pakistan has been to India on three occasions, for a white-ball series in late December 2012 to January 2013, the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup, which was entirely hosted by India.

Previously, Pakistan travelled to India to play the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. They played two matches each in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata and the high-voltage match with arch-rivals India was played at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on October 14.

(With ANI Inputs)