Harbhajan Singh, former India spinner, has said that the situation in Pakistan is not safe for the Indian team to visit the country for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 tournament. Pakistan is to host the tournament in Feb-March next year with 8 of the top ODI team participating.
The PCB has submitted a draft schedule to the ICC which sees India playing all of its matches in Lahore including the high-voltage match against Pakistan to be played on March 1.
However, the BCCI is yet to confirm Team India’s participation in the tournament, if it is played in Pakistan. Reports have stated that BCCI is in talks with the ICC to have the Men in Blue matches outside Pakistan, in either Sri Lanka or Dubai.
The question of whether India should travel to Pakistan was asked to former India spinner Harbhajan Singh as well and he said that the condition in the neighboring country is not suitable to risk the Indian team’s wellbeing by sending them to Pakistan.
"Why should the Indian team go to Pakistan? The security issue there is significant. The situation in Pakistan is such that incidents occur almost every day. I don't think it's safe to go there. The stance of the BCCI is absolutely correct, and nothing is more important than the safety of our players. I support BCCI's stand,” Harbhajan Singh was quoted by IANS.
The Indian cricket team declined to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup last year, resulting in the matches being held in Sri Lanka instead.
Since 2012, Pakistan and India have not played any bilateral series, with the Indian government restricting cricket encounters between the two nations to ICC or ACC events.