Source: Zee Business
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is currently thinking about three different options for where the next ICC Champions Trophy will be held. Right now, Pakistan still holds the rights to host the tournament, which is set to take place in February 2025. But the ICC is considering other possibilities, according to some sources.
One option is to continue with the original plan and have all matches in Pakistan. Another option is a "hybrid model," where some matches will happen in Pakistan, while important games, like those involving India and the knockout stages, will be played in Dubai, UAE.
The third option is to move the entire tournament out of Pakistan. If this happens, possible locations include Dubai, Sri Lanka, or South Africa, sources say.
Pakistan has not hosted a major ICC event since the 1996 ODI World Cup, which was co-hosted with India and Sri Lanka. It was supposed to co-host the 2011 World Cup, but after an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009, the ICC decided not to let Pakistan host the event. The 2011 World Cup was then held in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
India has not visited Pakistan for a cricket tournament since the 2008 Asia Cup. However, Pakistan has played in India several times, including the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup and the recently completed 2023 ICC ODI World Cup, which was fully hosted in India.
During the 2023 World Cup, Pakistan played their matches in cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata. Their highly anticipated game against India took place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, one of the biggest stadiums in the world, on October 14.
It is also important to note that the ICC Champions Trophy, unlike the ODI World Cup, features only the top eight cricket teams in the world. The last edition was held in 2017 in England, where Pakistan won the trophy by defeating India in the final.
(This story is based on reports and published without editing by CricXtreme staff.)
