ICC Champions Trophy 2025 News: Cricket vs Politics Battle Comes To An End

On Thursday, 5th December, months-long ICC Champions Trophy 2025 venue deadlock finally had a breakthrough. 

The ICC, PCB, and the BCCI have reached a mutual agreement regarding the adoption of a hybrid model for all international tournaments played in India or Pakistan till 2027. 

As per this arrangement, both India and Pakistan, will play their matches at a neutral venue for all ICC tournaments that will be hosted by either one of them. 

However, there’s still no clarity regarding the application of this agreement on Women’s cricket tournaments. 

If we look at the ICC schedule for the next three years, there are three international cricket tournaments that are supposed to be hosted by India and Pakistan; Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan, the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 in India, and the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. 

According to a source, “During the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup, Pakistan will play its matches in Sri Lanka. The compensation demanded by PCB for the Champions Trophy hybrid model is still under consideration.” 

According to ESPNcricinfo, this agreement was reached after the ICC chairman held a meeting with PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi in Dubai. 

A final board meeting to pan out the details of the ICC Champions Trophy is set to take place on Saturday i.e, 7th December. 

It’s worth noting that the ICC did accept the PCB’s condition, but not fully. The Pakistan Cricket Board, headed by Mohsin Naqvi demanded the application of a hybrid model for all ICC tournaments scheduled to take place in India until 2031. 

The ICC did accept that condition but only for the next three years i.e, till 2027. Also, the ICC hasn’t said anything about this arrangement’s application on Women’s cricket tournaments. 

Furthermore, the PCB also asked for monetary compensation of the revenue that will be lost due to India’s games being played outside of Pakistan. If India reaches the knockout stages, then at least one semi-final and potentially the final match will also be played outside Pakistan.

The ICC is yet to rule on this demand.