Since the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Pakistan as the host of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, there has been speculation about whether India will travel to Pakistan for the tournament or not.
As two neighbours did not have played any bilateral series since 2012 due to tension between them. India has not travelled to Pakistan for decades, whereas Pakistan recently visited India for the ICC Men’s World Cup.
India has not stated anything about their decision to travel to Pakistan, but it is predicted that Men in Blue will most probably not travel for the tournament.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on the other hand, has said that it will solely host the Champions Trophy and will not agree to any neutral venue or Plan B.
As per the Cricbuzz report, ICC, in the recent annual meeting, has approved a budget of around $65 million for the mega event, and the budget is enough to cover the expenses of hosting matches in any other location than Pakistan.
The report claimed that the approval notes of the Chief Executives Committee (CEC) mentioned, “PCB has signed a host agreement and has worked with management to draft an event budget, which is submitted to F&CA for approval. Management has also approved an estimate of the increase in the cost of staging the event if it is necessary to play some matches outside Pakistan."
It further added, “A planning meeting and inspection of proposed match venues took place in Pakistan in March 2024. A significant amount of renovation work is underway in all three venues to upgrade facilities.”
However, the ICC or PCB officials have not announced any plans to relocate India’s match to any neutral venue.
