India has refused to send team to Pakistan for Champions Trophy 2024.
A Pakistani journalist received an apt reply after he asked an US official for his comment on India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
The prohibition by India to travel to the neighboring country for the Champions Trophy has angered the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), past cricket players, and the media.
The BCCI has asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) for an explanation after informing them of their position, which the PCB appears unwilling to accept. ICC, on the other hand, is trying to find a solution to the issue, with options including taking the whole tournament out of Pakistan.
This issue was highlighted by a Pakistan journalist during US Department of State’s daily press briefing on November 14. The journo told principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel about India’s refusal to come to Pakistan and asked him about his stance on the issue.
“There’s a big cricket event in Pakistan," the journalist asked.
Surprised by the question, Patel replied, “Cricket? Oh, I didn’t have that on my bingo card. Go ahead."
“It’s the biggest event after the Cricket World Cup, and India was set to participate, but the Indian government has refused to send the team to Pakistan. The Indian team last visited Pakistan in 2008, but due to political tensions, India has not travelled there since. Do you believe mixing politics with sports is a good idea? What’s your opinion on this?” the journo said.
Patel responded by saying that the United States has no involvement in the matter and that it is between India and Pakistan.
“As it relates to relations between India and Pakistan, that’s for them to address, whether through sports or other matters. I’ll leave it to them to speak about their bilateral relationship. It’s not something for us to get involved in, but sports is undoubtedly a powerful and unifying force," Patel said.
Here is the video: