As the saga of next year’s Cricket Champions Trophy continues, sources said on Thursday that no agreement has been reached on a proposed “hybrid” format that would see India play its matches outside host country Pakistan.
The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, and that rivalry is often reflected on the cricket field.
The eight-team tournament was disrupted last month when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told the International Cricket Council (ICC) that their team had to withdraw from Pakistan due to security concerns and political tensions. I will not compete.
Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the PCB had agreed to the hybrid model but only on the condition that every ICC tournament held in India until 2027 would be on the same format. Pakistan will not go to India.
Under the hybrid model, Pakistan will host the group matches but its high-profile clash with India will be played in Dubai.
The final will be held in Dubai or Lahore depending on whether the Indian team makes it.
But the BCCI is objecting to the tit-for-tat stipulation on its hosting and the proposal to play the final in Lahore if India does not qualify, sources said.
Sources said that PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi is in Dubai, where the ICC is headquartered, to finalize the arrangements.
The stand-off means the ICC is yet to announce the schedule for the February 19-March 19 event.
The arch-rivals only meet in ICC multinational events, with the last bilateral series taking place when Pakistan toured India in 2012-13.
India last visited Pakistan for the 2008 Asia Cup and have not played a bilateral series across the border for 18 years.
Pakistan was also forced to host last year’s Asia Cup on a hybrid model, with India’s matches and the final held in Sri Lanka.
Apart from the Champions Trophy in 2029, India is set to co-host the next Twenty20 World Cup with Sri Lanka in 2026 and will co-host the 2031 World Cup with Bangladesh.
Over the past few years, Pakistan has hosted some of the world’s top teams, emerging from cricket’s isolation that began after a militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009.
Pakistan has not hosted an ICC event since the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.