‘They’ll find a way,’ says ECB chair on India travelling to Pakistan for ICC Champions Trophy 2025

England Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould and chairman Richard Thompson say that the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy without India will not be in cricket’s interest. The statement comes as India are yet to answer on their participation in the ICC event which is scheduled to take place in Pakistan in February-March next year.

“It would not be in cricket’s interests for India not to be playing in the Champions Trophy,” Thompson said as reported by cricket news website ESPNCricinfo. 

“It’s interesting, with Jay Shah – the former secretary of the BCCI and now chair of the ICC – [who] is going to have a big role to play in that. There’s geopolitics, and then there’s cricketing geopolitics. I think they’ll find a way. They have to find a way,” he added.

India and Pakistan do not play bilateral cricket due to political tensions between the governments of two countries. Last year, India refused to send its team to Pakistan for Asia Cup and the tournament was eventually scheduled in the hybrid model with Sri Lanka hosting all of India’s matches including the final.

Pakistan, however, did travel to India for the 2023 ODI World Cup later in the year and is expecting India to travel for the Champions Trophy next year. 

“If you play the Champions Trophy without India, or Pakistan, the broadcast rights aren’t there, and we need to protect them,” Gould said.

“They [Pakistan] are the host nation. We’ve seen the developments going on, and we’re all waiting to understand whether India are going to travel. That’s the key. We think there are some discussions and relationships where they need to be. I know Pakistan are expecting India to travel. There are lots of different alternatives and contingencies available if that doesn’t happen,” he added.

As of now, Pakistan has marked Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore as the venues of the tournament with all of India’s matches being played in Lahore.

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