After India declined to go for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, former Pakistani spinner Danish Kaneria questioned the PCB, wondering what they would gain by taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
This comes after PCB confirmed that ICC conveyed BCCI’s message that India will not be coming to Pakistan for the ICC event to be played in February-March next year. This would be the first time Pakistan hosted an ICC tournament after the 1996 World Cup.
This has led to severe criticism from all of Pakistan with board officials and ex-cricketers slamming India for their refusal. PCB, in consultation with the Pakistan government, has even reportedly threatened to pull out of the Champions Trophy if it is held in a hybrid model as per BCCI’s request.
According to media reports, the PCB is still insistent on holding the entire tournament in Pakistan and is considering the possibility of addressing the CAS about the issue.
Kaneria added that nothing would be accomplished by traveling to CAS and that it was practically obvious that India would not visit Pakistan for political and security reasons.
"The issue was ongoing for long that India will not travel to Pakistan for political and other reasons. They have an option of the hybrid model as they did in the Asia Cup but things should be settled as Pakistan traveled to India for the ODI World Cup last year. If Pakistan goes to the international court (CAS) what will they achieve out of it? There's always the uncertainty of security in Pakistan. International teams are coming but security concerns are much higher with the Indian team," Kaneria told IANS.
Kaneria agreed with BCCI’s request for a hybrid model similar to the one used in Asia Cup 2023, where India played its matches in Sri Lanka, while Pakistan hosted the rest of the matches.
"Looking at the big picture, India should play their matches in Dubai and Pakistan continue to host the Champions Trophy in the country. Things will only go downhill in this situation but Pakistan have nothing to lose as they did the same last time and also sent their team to India for World Cup. PCB is adamant this time and says many fans in Pakistan want to see Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja play in Pakistan," Kaneria added.
He further added that it would be interesting on how the Pakistan board goes ahead with respect to Champions Trophy 2025.
"It will interesting to see how PCB will move ahead with the Champions Trophy from here; will they play on the front foot and stay bold in their stand? I think things should be done swiftly with delegations of both boards interacting in person to find the desirable outcome," Kaneria concluded.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is slated to feature 8 teams including hosts Pakistan and is scheduled to be played from February 19 to March 9 at three venues- Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi.
(IANS inputs)
