Champions trophy will go on in Pakistan with or without India: Hasan Ali

Pakistan is going to host the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 as per reports. The tournament is going to be held in Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore as the venues are selected.  The eight team tournament is scheduled to start on February 19, 2025 in Karachi while the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore would host the final on March 9. The Champions Trophy was last played in 2017 and chances are that the host nation is going to face disappointment as its neighbouring country and cricket giant India refuses to participate if its going to be held in Pakistan.

Sri Lanka and UAE are the most probable options that the ICC are considering as backups for the tournament if India refuses to travel to Pakistan. In response to the news of India not travelling to Pak for the tournament, Pakistani pacer Hassan Ali has given a statement that if the ICC tournament is to be held in Pakistan, then it would take place there as planned and the tournament can go ahead without India participating.

His statement said, “If we are going there (India) to play, they can come to Pakistan too. A lot of times people have said sports should stay away from politics. But if you look at it from another angle, many Indian players have said in interviews that they want to play in Pakistan. So it doesn’t mean that they don’t want to come, they definitely do. But they do have their own policies, country and board to consider.”

Ali concluded, “As our (PCB) chairman has already said, if the Champions Trophy is going to be held in Pakistan, it will be held in Pakistan. If India doesn’t want to come, we will play without them. Cricket should be played in Pakistan and if India doesn’t want to participate, that doesn’t mean cricket has ended. There are other teams besides India.”

Pakistan Proposes Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi as Venues for ICC Champions Trophy 2025

India was seen last playing in Pakistani soil during the 2008 Asia cup. After that it refused to participate in any series or tournament being held in Pakistan, even the last 2023 Asia Cup. Only once there was a bilateral series being held where the two nation’s cricket team travelled to each other’s country (2012-13). Therefore it is to be seen if there is going to be a change or not.