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Follow UsThe England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) thinks that both India and Pakistan must participate in the ICC Champions Trophy, the biggest ICC event in 2025. According to Richard Gould and Richard Thompson, the chairman and chief executive officer of the ECB, an ICC event without an India-Pakistan game does not bring revenue streams through broadcast rights.
"It would not be in cricket's interests for India not to be playing in the Champions Trophy," Thompson was quoted as saying to ESPNcricinfo on the sidelines of an ICC meeting in Dubai.
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"It's interesting, with Jay Shah - the former secretary of the BCCI and now chair of the ICC - [who] is going to have a big role to play in that. There's geopolitics, and then there's cricketing geopolitics. I think they'll find a way. They have to find a way,” he added.
However, India have not toured Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup. Right after that, the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai occurred, the relationships between the two countries have remained sour ever since. On the other hand, Pakistan did play a bilateral series in India as recently as 2012 and also toured the country for two ICC events in 2016 and 2023.
In the most recent Asia Cup 2023, India played their games in Sri Lanka, a neutral venue even as Pakistan were the hosts of the tournament.
"If you play the Champions Trophy without India or Pakistan, the broadcast rights aren't there, and we need to protect them,” Thompson said.
Thompson and Gould will travel from UAE to Multan to meet the representatives of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) during the second Test between England and Pakistan.
However, he also addressed India's security concerns.
"There are always security concerns in this part of the world when those two countries play each other. That will probably drive the key decisions. But I know relationships between the two countries are as amicable as they can be at the moment: we saw it play out at the [men's T20] World Cup in New York."
However, the PCB is of the firm opinion that they would not let the Champions Trophy get diluted or played at neutral venues just because India aren’t interested in playing in Pakistan.
The Champions Trophy window has not yet been made public, but three cities- Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi are scheduled to host it between late February and early March.
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