The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the schedule of Champions Trophy 2025 on Tuesday, 23 December. This tournament will be hosted by Pakistan, but it will be organized under the hybrid model. The tournament will start on 19 February 2025, while the final match will be played on 9 March. The special thing is that the much awaited match between India and Pakistan will be held on 23 February.
Refuse to play India's matches in Dubai, Pakistan
India has refused to play in Pakistan citing security reasons. In such a situation, the Indian team will play all its matches in Dubai city of United Arab Emirates (UAE). Whereas, Pakistan and other teams will play their matches in the host country only. This tournament will be played in ODI format, in which a total of eight teams will participate. These teams will be divided into two groups and the top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
Champions Trophy was last played in 2017
The previous edition of the ICC Champions Trophy took place in 2017. At that time, Pakistan had won the title by defeating India in the final. Now this prestigious tournament is returning after eight years.
Controversy regarding hybrid model
There was a long-running dispute between the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) regarding the hybrid model of the tournament. PCB had at one time even threatened to boycott the Champions Trophy in protest against this model. But after ICC's intervention, Pakistan adopted a soft stance and accepted the hybrid model with conditions. Recently ICC has given its approval on this model.
Hybrid model will be implemented for both the teams by 2027
ICC has clarified that the teams of India and Pakistan will not play any matches in each other's countries till 2027. India's matches will be held at neutral venues. Similarly, Pakistan team will also play at neutral venues in the tournaments organized in India. This arrangement will also be applicable to the 2025 Women's World Cup and 2026 T20 World Cup.
Demand for uniform arrangement of PCB
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had clarified that it would accept the hybrid model only if similar arrangements were made for both India and Pakistan. Accepting this demand, ICC has implemented similar rules for both the countries.
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