In a fresh impasse related to the hosting of the Champions Trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has strongly opposed the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) conditional agreement to a hybrid model for the tournament in February-March next year, according to a report in 'The Telegraph'.
After months of deadlock, PCB agreed to conduct the tournament in hybrid mode, which will allow India to play their matches at a neutral venue after their refusal to travel to Pakistan for the tournament no security reasons. However, Pakistan demanded from the International Cricket Council (ICC) that in return they too won't play in India in the future tournaments hosted by the BCCI.
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"Sources told The Telegraph on Tuesday that the BCCI has sent a clear message to the ICC brass in this regard leading to a fresh impasse. The BCCI’s contention is simple — there is no security threat in India and hence no question of accepting such an arrangement," the report read.
India is scheduled to host the Women's ODI World Cup next year and the T20 World Cup in 2026 jointly with Sri Lanka. The 2029 Champions Trophy and 2031 ODI World Cup will also be played in India.
A virtual meeting of the ICC board was held last Friday but it ended in just over 15 minutes after the PCB rejected the hybrid model. However, they later agreed to it fearing that the ICC may relocate the tournament, but only on the condition that they too won't play in India in future.
India's hybrid matches for the 2025 Champions Trophy will reportedly be played in Dubai if the arrangement goes ahead, and the venue will also host the semifinal and the final if the Indian team reaches those stages of the tournament.
"It is understood that all relevant parties are working towards finding an amicable solution to end the crisis and the ICC board will reconvene in the next few days," the report further read.
Meanwhile, Jay Shah has taken charge as the ICC chairman from December 1 onwards.
