Pakistan-India Champions Trophy 2025 Clash Set for March 1 in Lahore

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has suggested a provisional timetable of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy and Pakistan-India match is scheduled on 1st March, 2017 at Lahore. This is the good news as the cricket lovers are waiting for international cricket to start in Pakistan. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not expressed its willingness to participate in the tournament, for the purported security risks and government’s permission. The tournament, scheduled from February 19 to March 9, 2025, is set to feature 15 matches across three Pakistani cities: Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi.

Proposed Tournament Structure

Dates and Venues:

Tournament period: February 19 – March 9, 2025 with March 10 as the reserve date.

Venues: Lahore won 7 matches, Karachi 3 matches, Rawalpindi 5 matches.

Opening match: Karachi

Semi-finals: Karachi and Rawalpindi

Final: Lahore

Group Allocations:

Group A: Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, New Zealand

Group B: Australia, South Africa, England, Afghanistan

PCB’s Strategic Planning

Mohsin Naqvi’s Proactive Approach:

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has been quite active in the planning of the tournament. He went to the T20 World Cup final in Barbados to give the proposed schedule to the ICC officials. The PCB’s proposal schedules all of India’s matches in Lahore taking into account security and other issues.

ICC Involvement:

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has endorsed the event and has expressed its willingness to have it hosted in Pakistan. Naqvi said that he recently met with ICC head of events Chris Tetley in Islamabad after the security assessment of the proposed venues by the ICC team.

BCCI’s Stance and Challenges

Pending Approval:

The proposed schedule has not been approved by the BCCI. Like with other tournaments that involve Pakistan, the Indian cricket board will have to take its government’s approval before proceeding.

Recent Precedent:

The 2023 Asia Cup that Pakistan co-hosted partially used a ‘home and away’ format where India had to play their matches in Sri Lanka because of the Indian travel ban.

International Support and Expectations

Global Cricket Community:

Cricket boards of all the countries that are participating in the tournament have reportedly given their consent for the tournament to be held in Pakistan except for India. Such support clearly demonstrates the global cricket fraternity’s eagerness to see the big-tournaments back in Pakistan.

ICC’s Position:

The ICC continues to uphold the policy of not making any member board to take any action against its government policies. This leaves the responsibility on diplomatic interactions and the state of bilateral relations between India and Pakistan to possibly affect the outcome.

Implications for Pakistan Cricket

Revival of International Cricket

Organizing the Champions Trophy effectively would be a major step forward in Pakistan’s bid to restore international cricket fully in the country after years of insecurity.

Economic and Diplomatic Impact

Such a tournament could be economically rewarding for Pakistan and could also enhance the relations with the participating countries especially India if they agreed to play in Lahore.

Looking Ahead

While the cricketing world waits for the BCCI’s decision, the PCB goes ahead preparing for the Champions Trophy event. The next few months will therefore be decisive in ascertaining whether this high profile event will be able to go on as planned, and thus alter the existing map of international cricket in the region.