The ICC Champions Trophy is the next major ICC event to be held in Pakistan. The tournament is expected to be held between February and March 2025, although India’s participation in the tournament is still in doubt.
India has not played a bilateral series against Pakistan since 2012/13 as it continues to condemn the 2007 terror attacks. Since then, the two teams have been playing in ICC events but have not played in a bilateral series.
Recently, Pakistan lost to India in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, former Pakistani cricketer Tanvir Ahmed attacked the Indian government and the BCCI for their stance on the matter.
In an interview with sports journalist Dawn News, he criticised the Indian media and the government, who have denied having spoken on whether the BCCI will send the Indian team to Pakistan for the tournament. The host of the show accused the BCCI saying that the board has not yet discussed with the government on whether they will send their players to Pakistan.
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Tanvir appeared agitated and angry in his response as he said the PCB should not accept the hybrid model that the BCCI is expected to propose.
Angry @ImTanveerA on BCCI and India on Champions Trophy in Pakistan
Your views?#CT2025 #PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD #BCCI #Cricket image.twitter.com/Ve9i8vrpz8– Abdul Ghaffar 🇵🇰 (@GhaffarDawnNews) July 13, 2024
“PCB should not accept hybrid model. Pakistan cricket team travelled to India twice to play in 2016 and 2023. Did our players not have any security concerns? Our government did not deny them but gave us permission and our players went to play the World Cup. These people are lying,” said the former Pakistan cricketer.
He further said that the Indian government and BCCI will put pressure on the ICC to organise the tournament in the hybrid model for them.
“The Indian government and the cricket board will now put pressure on the ICC to adopt the hybrid model. They are liars. They will tell the ICC that the government is not allowing us to go to Pakistan. When the Pakistan cricket team went to India for the ODI World Cup, I had said then that the Indian government would now allow its players to travel to Pakistan,” Tanvir added.
“The ICC and India are one, there is no problem. They know that they have the ICC in their hands. If the ICC accepts the demands of the hybrid model, it means that they are below India (in terms of power). There is no problem with the ICC.”
He further blamed the Indian media for discussing the possibilities of the tournament being played in the hybrid model for Indian matches. He questioned the authenticity of the Indian media on how they have projected this matter and how this discussion has been exaggerated.
As India will be hosting the 2026 T20 World Cup, the host of the show ended the debate with a pertinent question. He said that if India proposes the hybrid model, it might also face the same problem if Pakistan and other cricketing nations refuse to travel to India to play in ICC tournaments.
In May, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said the Indian team would visit Pakistan for the tournament only if the central government allowed it.
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