Breaking good news, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Vice President Rajeev Shukla said that BCCI Secretary and newly elected ICC President Jay Shah will decide India’s visit to Pakistan to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. .

The Indian national cricket team has not traveled to Pakistan for almost two decades due to long-standing political tensions between the countries and the strained relationship, particularly after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which led to the end of ties. bilateral agreements between India and Pakistan.

The two Asian teams only face each other in the tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). India’s last tour of Pakistan for a bilateral series was in 2005-06, when they played three Tests and five ODIs.

Meanwhile, the Men in Blue played their last match in Pakistan in the 2008 Asia Cup. On the other hand, Pakistan last traveled to India for a bilateral series in 2012-13, and since then, they have not traveled to the country for bilateral series but the Men in Green participated in the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup and the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup held in India.

Since Pakistan hosted an ICC event, the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, after a long time, there were speculations that India might finally visit the country. However, the BCCI has not confirmed the national team’s participation despite the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sending a draft schedule to the International Cricket Council.

We have some good news: Our BCCI Secretary Jay Shah will become ICC President – Rajeev Shukla

Rajeev Shukla has now spoken on the matter, stating that Jay Shah being the top boss of the ICC is good news as he will take the decision in this regard as the independent president of the ICC.

“As far as the Champions Trophy is concerned, Pakistan will host that tournament. Last year also the Asia Cup was held in Pakistan and we adopted a hybrid model where India’s matches were played in Sri Lanka. So far there have been no discussions in the BCCI for that tournament and we have not reached a decision either. We have some good news that our BCCI Secretary Jay Shah is going to become ICC President. Therefore, he will be there in the ICC as an independent president and will take a decision on the matter,” Rajeev Shukla told India Today.

Rajeev Shukla, however, once again made it clear that the Indian government will take the final decision on the matter and without the government’s permission, the BCCI will not send the Indian team to Pakistan.

“Another factor is that and it applies to all cricket boards. It is clearly written in the ICC rules that if the government does not give permission, the team cannot travel to that particular country. So, we leave it in the hands of the government, keeping in mind that it concerns the safety of the players and other issues. So whatever the government tells us, we are waiting for it. It all depends on the government’s decision whether our team will travel to Pakistan or not and we will conduct negotiations accordingly,” Rajeev Shukla added.

The Champions Trophy 2025 is likely to be played from February 19 to March 9 in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, with all of India’s matches taking place in Lahore as per the preliminary schedule.