In a latest statement, the global body announced that the Champions Trophy will be held in Pakistan and a neutral venue next year
ICC has finally reached a breakthrough regarding the hosting of the 2025 Champions Trophy. After weeks of stand-off between PCB and BCCI, the global body has finally declared the venue where the tournament will be held next year.
“ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 to be played across Pakistan and a neutral venue,” ICC said in a statement. This means that the tournament will be played in hybrid mode with India playing their share of matches at a neutral venue.
Not only this, the global body which is led by Jay Shah has come up with another major decision and have declared that all the matches between India and Pakistan, hosted by the 2 countries, will be played at neutral venues till 2027.
“India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December,” the statement said.
“This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka),” the statement added.
This statement means that for the first time, the Indian team will have to travel to another country to play a match against Pakistan in an ICC event, despite being the host or co-host.
The ICC has also awarded hosting rights of the 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup to Pakistan.
“It was also announced that the PCB has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia is set to host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031,” the ICC said.
“The schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be confirmed soon, with Pakistan aiming to defend the title they won in 2017. The eight-team event will feature Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan,” the ICC added.
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