Ahead of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, former Pakistan National Cricket Team bowler Shoaib Akhtar made a huge declaration. He claimed that although Team India and Virat Kohli would be itching to play in Pakistan, their government would not permit it.
For the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, the Indian National Cricket Team will not be visiting Pakistan. The Indian government refused to send the team to Pakistan for security grounds, therefore Pakistani fans’ ambition of seeing Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and other Indian stars play in their country is still a dream.
To convince the Indian National Cricket Team to visit Pakistan, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) did everything in its power. However, despite their best efforts, the BCCI refused to travel, therefore this didn’t work out. As a result, it is anticipated that the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will be contested using a hybrid model.
The current conference included participation from the ICC, PCB, and BCCI. It was discovered that the host country has consented to use a hybrid model for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, however they have two requirements in order to accept it. In addition to wanting a larger portion of the ICC’s earnings, they also want all events held in India through 2031 to use a hybrid model.
According to recent reports, the Indian body rejected the Pakistan Cricket Board’s continued demands to embrace the hybrid model for all ICC events that will happen in India till 2031 .
The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy schedule will soon be released by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The hybrid model is most likely to be used for the competition. Accordingly, Pakistan will host the remaining matches, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host all of the India games, one semifinal, and the final.
Speaking about India’s decision not to visit Pakistan, Shoaib Akhtar asserted that Virat Kohli and the BCCI would be more than happy to play in Pakistan. He predicted that BCCI’s TV rights sponsorships would skyrocket if they played in Pakistan. On a television channel, he said:
“To play in Pakistan, India is more willing to die than Pakistan. Playing in Pakistan would likely be Virat Kohli’s dream come true. I am aware of what is taking place. TV rights sponsorships will skyrocket if India vs. Pakistan prevails. Allow me to tell you. The Indian government is the reason they are not coming.
The Pakistan National Cricket Team would have greatly benefited from an Indian team that had well-known players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma playing in Pakistan. Despite playing all around the world, players like Rohit, Bumrah, and Kohli have never played in Pakistan.
