Jay Shah, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is reportedly set to travel to Colombo on Thursday, July 18, to discuss the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 venues for the Indian cricket team. He is set to attend a series of meetings conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from July 19 to 22, concluding with the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the final day.
Notably, the Indian cricket team is likely to not travel to Pakistan to play in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, citing no clearance from the government for the tour due to security issues. The eight-team tournament is set to begin on February 19 next year, while the final will be played on March 9, at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
As per the Times of India report, the agenda of the AGM doesn’t have any details about the discussion on the issue, but still, the highly important could get taken up by the BCCI and the PCB in “any other business” category. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will be represented by their chairman Mohsin Naqvi at the series of meetings of the ICC.
The proposed schedule of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 includes the Indian cricket team playing all their three league matches at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. India could play against Bangladesh on February 20, New Zealand on February 23, and Pakistan on March 1 in the tournament.
But since India are likely to refuse to travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, the ICC could end up adopting the hybrid model to ensure that the Men in Blue stay involved in the tournament. But, the PCB are expected to push back on the idea wherein the Indian cricket team plays its matches in UAE or Sri Lanka despite the fact that Pakistan are the official hosts of the Champions Trophy.