The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Indian cricket team may not travel to Pakistan for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy next year, according to sources from the board. Instead, the venue for the event is likely to be shifted or a hybrid model may be used.
“Forget bilateral series…Team India may not even travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. There might be a change of venue, a hybrid model is also possible,” the BCCI sources told IANS.
The sources added that the Indian board would need permission from the government for travel, as the current relations between India and Pakistan are not very good.
“The Indian board would need permission from the government for travel, currently our relations with Pakistan are not that good either,” the sources stated. “Champions Trophy is an ICC event, so it would be a tough call for India but nothing without the government’s order/green signal. Bilateral series, I don’t see in the near future, that’s next to impossible.”
This comes after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi suggested that they would consider a bilateral series with India if the Indian team sends their team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.
However, the BCCI sources dismissed the possibility of a bilateral series in the near future, saying it is “next to impossible.”
India and Pakistan last played a bilateral limited-overs series in 2012-13 when Pakistan visited India. Last year, India refused to send its team to play the Asia Cup in Pakistan, leading to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) adopting a hybrid model for the event, with most matches being organized in Sri Lanka.
