Courtesy: ICC
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially approved the hybrid model to host the Champions Trophy 2025 with its matches set to be played in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following an agreement signed with the BCCI and PCB. It means that India’s matches in the Champions Trophy 2025 will happen at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, including their marquee clash against Pakistan, a staple of any ICC tournament in the last decade or so.
Notably, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), who are the hosts of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, will have 10 matches of the tournament happening across three venues in Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Karachi, as per the report from India Today. Additionally, the semi-final and the final of the tournament will happen in Dubai if India manages to get there, but if not, then these knockout matches will also happen in Lahore and Rawalpindi in Pakistan.
Pakistan will get to host ICC women's tournament after 2027
As per their agreement with the ICC, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the PCB have also decided that the Pakistan cricket team won’t be travelling to India to play any matches of the T20 World Cup 2026, instead they will take the field in Sri Lanka, who are the co-hosts of the tournament. There will be no compensation given to the PCB for not getting the chance to host the Indian cricket team, but they will get the chance to host an ICC women’s tournament after 2027.
Moreover, the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which is tentatively scheduled to go down from February 19 to March 9, is an eight-team tournament, divided into two groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group will reach the semi-final stage of the tournament, which is currently held by Pakistan after winning it in 2017, and they will be aiming to defend their title in front of their home fans.
