Mumbai Mumbai. There was no mention of cities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in the Champions Trophy tour announced by the ICC on Saturday as the world body decided to remove these cities from the host country's schedule following strong objections from India. Apart from Karachi, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the Trophy Tour will now also include Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. The Trophy Tour will start from Pakistan's capital Islamabad and proceed to Karachi (22-25 November) via other cities of the country – Taxila and Khanpur (17 November), Abbottabad (18 November), Murree (19 November) and Nathia Gali (20 November). ) expires in. Most of these cities are centers of tourist attraction.
Earlier, on November 14, the PCB had announced the trophy tour, which included cities like Skardu, Hunza and Muzaffarabad, which fall in the PoK region, an area disputed between India and Pakistan. PTI reported on Friday. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah had raised strong objections to the ICC over PCB's trophy tour plans in the PoK region. However, the global body took swift action to remove those cities from the tour, revealing on Saturday.
After the trophy tour in Pakistan, it will be Afghanistan (26–28 November), followed by Bangladesh (10–13 December), South Africa (15–22 December), Australia (25 December–5 January), New Zealand (6–11 January). ), will tour England (12-14 January) and India (15-26 January). The cities for the Trophy Tour outside Pakistan will be announced in due course.
ICC said in a release, “The Trophy Tour program comprises a series of physical and digital events covering iconic venues, sporting events and key battles across the international cricket calendar, during which fans will be able to enjoy a content program called 'Champions on Tour'. The series will also be shown, documenting the Trophy Tour's journey around the world through food, music and cricket.” Pakistan is the defending champion of the event, having won the title in 2017 by defeating India at the Oval in London.
For this edition, India has reportedly refused to travel to Pakistan for the tournament, and the ICC is working with the PCB to find a possible solution, including hosting it in a hybrid model or moving the competition to Pakistan. Relocating out of the U.S., possibly including the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or South Africa.
Yesterday PCB sources said the trophy tour was planned in consultation and approval of the ICC and was not a unilateral decision by the PCB. “If they had any issues they should have informed the PCB immediately before announcing the trophy tour.” Anyway, as host and commercial partner of ICC, PCB is cooperating with them as usual,” another source said. The trophy will now be taken to Islamabad, Taxila, Abbottabad, Murree, Nathiagali and Karachi and the trophy tour will end on November 22.
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