New Delhi: Team India may not travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy next year, and the venue for the event will likely get shifted or a hybrid model used, sources in the BCCI told IANS. They added that a bilateral series with the neighbours is “unlikely” in the near future.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi reportedly said that they would think about a bilateral series with India if they send their team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.
However, sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said, “Forget bilateral series…Team India may not even travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. There might be a change of venue, so a hybrid model is also possible.”
“The Indian board would need permission from the government for travel, currently our relations with Pakistan are not that good either,” sources said. “Champions Trophy is an ICC event, so it would be a tough call for India but nothing without the government’s order/green signal. Bilateral series, I don’t see in the near future, that’s next to impossible.”
India and Pakistan last played a bilateral limited-overs series in 2012-13, when Pakistan visited India.
