Picture Credit: Twitter
Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur has said that the decision regarding Team India's participation in the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan will be made by the home ministry. While India are certain of a place in the competition, the strained political relations between the two countries imply the two teams do not travel to each other's shores.
In such a condition it would be interesting to see whether the Men in Blue would be allowed to travel to Pakistan for a world event like a Champions Trophy. Thakur's remark comes after the International Cricket Council announced the hosts for each of the major tournaments in the Future Tours Programme cycle 2023-31.
It was as part of these announcements that Pakistan were granted the hosting rights for their first major global tournament since the 1996 ODI World Cup for which they were co-hosts with India and Sri Lanka.
"When the time comes, we’ll see what to do. The home ministry will be involved in decision-making. Lot of countries have pulled out of going to Pakistan due to security issues. We’ll assess the security then and decide," Thakur, a former BCCI President, was quoted as saying by Times Now.
“Even in past, many countries have refused to play in Pakistan due to security concerns. As you all know, many players were even attacked while playing over there and that’s a big issue to be dealt with,” he added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ramiz Raja is understandably very pleased with the development and is looking forward to an ICC event making a comeback in Pakistan.
"It’s a matter of great pride and delight that Pakistan will be hosting ICC Champions Trophy 2025. This great news will surely excite millions of Pakistani fans, expats and world fans to see great teams and players in action and will allow the world to sample our hospitality," he tweeted.
Check out the Tweet here:
Pakistan put up a great show in the recently-concluded T20 World Cup but fell short in the semifinals against eventual champions Australia. They now have a series against Bangladesh lined up.