It has been reported that the leadership of the International Cricket Council (ICC) organized a consultative meeting in regard to the Champions Trophy 2025 tournament where all the board representatives are expected to meet concerning the happenings in Pakistan and their worries among other things.
As per an article published in India Today News, it looks like the ICC has come up as a mediator and is in for discussing ways out of the impasse which also involves purported insecurity threats posed by Pakistan which led the Board of Control for Cricket in India ‘BCCI’ to avoid touring the country in hostility periods.
Though India refused to go for the tournament, Pakistan remained insistent on the tournament being held and renounced the ‘Hybrid Model’.
This is when the games of the tournament are divided among a neutral ground and Pakistan, just like in the Asia Cup 2023 in which Pakistan and Sri Lanka were the hosts.
As for the report, issues that would be addressed include the pools for India and Pakistan, the logistics of a neutral ground for semi-finals and finals, and other strategies if Pakistan disagrees with the hybrid model. Also, discussions will be held on the single neutral country ground strategy for the entire event and engaging in the discourse on whether Pakistan will pull out of the tournament or not.
The BCCI had lodged a complaint with the ICC over the Trophy Tour that Pakistan was conducting in the regions of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), Islamabad, Taxila, and Khanpur among other areas. Following the filing of the complaint, the ICC made some alterations in the schedule of the trip which includes several areas of Pakistan.
The most recent Champions Trophy was hosted in 2017, during which Pakistan thrashed their rivals India by 180 runs in the finals that were held in London. With the return of the said event, a greater emphasis will be put into the 50-over format of the game of cricket which has been on the decline due to the fact that the ODI World Cup is every four years.
The importance of the restoration of the tournament will be of great magnitude due. To global cricket, to the ICC and as well as to cricket-playing countries. These discussions could hold tremendous significance in relation to CT 2025, and on the prospects of finding a resolution within the ICC amidst the contentious matters that threaten the resumption of the tournament.
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