IND Vs PAK In Pakistan? Champions Trophy Buzz Is Louder As MEA Jaishankar Confirms SCO Summit Attendance

India have not played any cricket in Pakistan in nearly two decades but with MEA S Jaishankar set to travel across the border ahead of Champions Trophy, there is still hope for the the hosts.

IND Vs PAK In Pakistan? India's matches for the Champions Trophy 2025 are slated to be played in Lahore as per the tentative schedule.

Source : PTI

With the Ministry of External Affairs confirming on Friday (4 October) that the External Affairs Minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, will lead the Indian delegation to Islamabad, Pakistan, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, there appears to be some hope for Pakistan, the designated hosts of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, that Indian cricket team may travel there early next year for the marquee event.

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While India and Pakistan continue to face each other in multilateral tournaments, India has not travelled to Pakistan. Even when Pakistan was granted the hosting rights for the Asia Cup last year, India's refusal to play on Pakistani soil resulted in the introduction of a hybrid model, whereby all of India’s matches, including the final, were played in Sri Lanka. This was facilitated by the fact that the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President was Jay Shah, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

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In contrast, Pakistan participated in the ODI World Cup 2023, with their matches held in Ahmedabad and Kolkata. However, with the next ICC event scheduled to take place in Pakistan, India has once again refrained from making any positive commitments to travel for the ODI tournament. 

The Champions Trophy 2025 is set to begin on 19 February, with the final scheduled for 9 March. According to the tentative fixture list, all of India’s matches are slated to be played in Lahore.

Given that Jaishankar will be in Islamabad on the 15th and 16th of October for the SCO summit, Pakistan may well attempt to persuade the Indian government to allow their team to travel across the border.

Government Will Decide On India’s Travel To Pakistan: BCCI Stance

BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, speaking to the media on the sidelines of the second Test between India and Bangladesh in Kanpur, said, "the government will decide" whether the Indian cricket team should visit Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.

"No decision has been taken yet. But our policy is that for international tours, we always seek the government's permission. It is up to the government to decide whether our team should go to a particular country or not," Shukla was quoted as saying by PTI.

"In this case as well [referring to India's visit to Pakistan for CT], whatever the government decides, we will abide by it," he added.

Since 2008, Pakistan have toured India once while India have not travelled to Pakistan series due to strained relations following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.