India 'refuse' to travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to come to Pakistan to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy next year, Indian media reported on Friday.

The Indian board has instead asked to play its matches in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), it added.

The development comes as a huge setback for fans of the game who were hoping to see their favourite Indian athletes play on Pakistani grounds.

Sources familiar with the matter told the Indian Express that the BCCI has informed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) of its security concerns and requested that its matches be held in Dubai instead of Lahore.

"The BCCI has conveyed their concerns regarding Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan. They want to play matches at a neutral venue and Dubai is the strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue," a source told Times of India.

Another source, meanwhile, informed the Indian Express that this has been the BCCI's long-standing stance and that there was no reason to change that.

"We have written to them and asked them to shift our games to Dubai," the source added.

Pakistan is determined to hold the entire 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan from February 19 to March 9 in three cities — Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi.

To address logistical and security concerns, it suggested staging all of India’s matches in Lahore, which is near the Wagah border, to simplify arrangements.

India has not played an international match in Pakistan since 2008. Last year, the BCCI declined to send a team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup, leading to a hybrid format with later stages held in Sri Lanka.

However, Pakistan did visit India soon after for the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they fell short of reaching the semi-finals.

The upsetting development comes as during his visit to Islamabad on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in October, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar had reportedly discussed the possibility of the Indian cricket team coming to Pakistan for the ICC event, the media reports added.

Following the meeting, hopes were raised about cricket normalcy as this was the first direct conversation of this level since 2015 between nations with an acrimonious past.

Following this cordial meeting, a thaw in relations seemed possible, sparking speculation about the resumption of cricket ties.