India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy next year may trigger a strong response from the Pakistan government that may ask its cricket board to withdraw from the tournament, according to a report in ‘Dawn’.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has written to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), informing them about the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) decision that the Indian team won’t travel to Pakistan for the tournament, which is scheduled to be played from February 19 to March 9, 2025.
The Champions Trophy, which is making its return to the ICC calendar after 2017, could be turned into a ‘hybrid’ model, with India playing all their matches at a different venue, most likely in the UAE, while the rest of the tournament is hosted by Pakistan.
The report states that the PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, has “ruled out the possibility” of a hybrid model, which could force the ICC to move the entire tournament out of Pakistan.
That may lead to Pakistan pulling out of the Champions Trophy.
“In such a case, one of the options the government is mulling is that of asking the PCB to ensure Pakistan don’t participate in the Champions Trophy,” the report quoted its source.
Naqvi is also an interior minister in the country’s federal government.
India and Pakistan have not played any bilateral series since 2012, but continued to face off in ICC tournaments, including the ODI World Cup last year in India.
Notably, the Asia Cup hosted by Pakistan last year was also turned into a hybrid model after India refused to play in Pakistan. India then played all their matches in Sri Lanka.

NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking at the last week of November to host the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction and November 30 has emerged as the likely date. Nothing has been finalised on the date yet but the last week of the month has been identified as the ideal window. The discussions are underway on the venue and while many options are being discussed, there is a possibility of the Indian cricket board hosting it in Dubai.
The ten franchises are already in a huddle ahead of the mega auction and are in the final stages of sealing their retentions.IPL 2024 finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are leading the way as they have already identified Heinrich Klaasen, Pat Cummins and Abhishek Sharma as their three priorities and Travis Head, Nitish Kumar Reddy are also in the scheme of things.
Delhi Capitals, too, have Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav as their top three picks but there is no clarity on captaincy yet. They have rejigged the support staff with Hemang Badani set to become the head coach and Venugopal Rao replacing Sourav Ganguly as Director of Cricket. Additionally, they have roped in Munaf Patel as the bowling coach and formal announcements are likely in the coming weeks.
Continuity remains as IPL giants Mumbai Indians, who were the clear winners in this new retention policy, are set to retain Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah. Pandya is slated to continue as the captain as the five-time winners, under coach Mahela Jayawardene, would look to return to winning ways after disappointing outings in the last cycle.

The upcoming mega auction promises to be a very exciting affair as the new rules will keep the franchises on their toes. The modified version of the Right To Match card, which is set to be extensively used by most teams, is likely to be the show-stopper.
What’s the new RTM
* The highest bidder will be given one final opportunity to raise their bid for a player before the team holding the RTM card can exercise their right
* For example, if Team 1 holds the RTM for Player X and Team 2 has placed the highest bid of Rs. 6 Cr, then Team 1 will be first asked if they will exercise RTM, if Team 1 agrees, then Team 2 will have the chance to increase their bid. If Team 2 raises their bid to Rs. 9 Cr, then Team 1 can use the RTM and acquire Player X for Rs. 9 Cr. If Team 2 chooses not to raise the bid and keeps it at Rs. 6 Cr, Team 1 can use the RTM and get Player X for Rs. 6 Cr.