Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has agreed with the International Cricket Board (ICC) and The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the hybrid model of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. India-centric matches in the marquee event are scheduled to take place in Dubai. The eight-team ODI tournament is scheduled to start from February 19 and the final will take place on March 9.
Venues for Champions Trophy 2025
PCB will be the host of the Champions Trophy 2025 and Pakistan will host 10 matches of the tournament. India's all three league matches will be played in Dubai, including the high-voltage clash against Pakistan. Apart from India's league matches the semifinal and final will also take place in Dubai. In case India knocks out of the tournament after league games then the semifinal and final will take place in Pakistan's Lahore and Rawalpindi.
PCB and BCCI in-principle agreement for T20 World Cup 2026
Earlier, PCB demanded ICC that if India refuses to travel to Pakistan for the ICC event then they will not travel to India for the T20 World Cup 2026 which will be jointly hosted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and BCCI. PCB demanded that they play their matches in Colombo and BCCI in principle (Not written) agreed to the demand and now Pakistan's league matches in the 2026 mega event will be played in Colombo, unlike the Champions Trophy. However, the venue for the semifinal and final of the 2026 T20 World Cup will be decided later.
The decision for T20 World Cup 2026 is an in-principle agreement between PCB and BCCI. PCB were asking for a written document but there is no such written agreement between both boards (BCCI, and PCB) for the upcoming showcase event set to be hosted by BCCI and SLC.
This will be the first ICC tournament hosted by PCB after the 1996 World Cup which was jointly hosted by PCB and BCCI. The official announcement from ICC for the Champions Trophy 2025 hybrid model will come in a couple of days.
India last travelled to Pakistan to feature in the 2008 Asia Cup under MS Dhoni's captaincy. On the other hand, Pakistan's last travelled to India in 2023 for the ODI World Cup where they got out of the tournament after a disappointing performance in their league matches after suffering their massive eight-wicket loss against Afghanistan who played their maiden fifty-over World Cup match in 2015.
