KARACHI: Pakistan may withdraw from next year’s ICC Champions Trophy in case the tournament’s hosting rights are stripped of the country in the wake of India’s refusal to travel across the border for it, official sources told Dawn on Sunday.

After the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) spokesperson’s confirmation on the same day, that the board had “received an email from the ICC, stating that the BCCI has informed them that their team will not travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025”, the matter has been forwarded “to the Government of Pakistan for their advice and guidance”.

With PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi having ruled out the possibility of a “hybrid model” — under which India would play their matches at a neutral venue while the remaining tournament is played in Pakistan — the International Cricket Council (ICC) may propose shifting the tournament entirely to another country.

“In such a case, one of the options the government is mul­ling is that of asking the PCB to ensure Pakistan don’t participate in the Champions Trophy,” a source said, adding that the federal government was looking at the issue “seriously”.

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While addressing reporters on Friday, Mohsin had said that the PCB should not be expected to “carry on with their good gestures”, pointing at Pakistan’s flexibility toward the Indian government’s stance of not sending their cricket team to the neighbouring country.

According to sources, a similar narrative prevails in the offices of the federal government, of which Mohsin is a part of as Pakistan’s interior minister.

Dawn understands that the government may go on to ask the PCB to refuse playing against India in any of the ICC or Asian Cricket Council tournaments until issues are reso­lved between India and Paki­stan at the government level.

Amid political tensions between the two neighbours, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has stood firm by the Indian government’s policy of not engaging with Pakistan in terms of bilateral cricket over the years.

However, after having played the last bilateral series against each other in 2012, Pakistan and India have competed in ICC tournaments and the Asia Cup. Pakistan, in fact, visited India to feature in the ICC World Cup last year.

The visit, if anything, heightened expectations of India returning the favour by touring Pakistan for the Cham­pions Trophy, which is set to be held in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi from Feb 19 to March 9 next year.

India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup, which the latter hosted last year, saw the PCB compromise by implementing the “hybrid model”, which saw Rohit Sharma’s side play its matches in Sri Lanka, with only four matches of the tournament played in Pakistan, excluding the final.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2024