Champions Trophy: ICC to meet on Friday to finalise schedule
The board of the International Cricket Council will meet virtually on November 29 to finalise the much-delayed schedule of the Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan in February-March next year.
The cause of the delay has been India’s refusal to play in Pakistan considering the tense relations between the two countries. India have not toured Pakistan since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
The BCCI wants the tournament to be played in a hybrid model with the India games scheduled in a third country, preferably the UAE, something that its Pakistani counterpart has not agreed to thus far. “The ICC board will meet on November 29 to discuss the Champions Trophy schedule,” an ICC spokesperson said.
The crucial virtual meeting takes places two days before BCCI secretary Jay Shah takes over as the ICC chairman on December 1. He and other board members would be keen to resolve the matter before the new regime takes over. With the deadlock over the schedule and venue yet to be broken, questions have been raised against the current dispensation of the ICC including chair Greg Barclay and CEO Geoff Allardice over why it did not resolve the issue earlier and left it for the 11th hour.
With the Indian government firmly sticking to the status quo, the Champions Trophy in a hybrid model with India games outside Pakistan is the most likely option. Sources said that the PCB will be offered financial incentives, over and above the hosting fee of $70 million, to agree to the hybrid model.
A similar model was followed last year when India played their Asia Cup matches in Sri Lanka while four group games were hosted by Pakistan.
The PCB has spent millions of dollars to renovate stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi for what will be its first ICC event since it co-hosted the 1996 World Cup.
Major teams including England and Australia have toured Pakistan recently after years of isolation following the horrific attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in 2009.
Since the ICC awarded Champions Trophy hosting rights to Pakistan in 2021, the PCB has been facing constant pressure from the local public to host all the games in the country. PCB has also threatened that it won’t send its national teams to India for future ICC events if the latter doesn’t cross the border for Champions Trophy.
