The cricket world is still perplexed by the Champions Trophy dilemma, which has three parties in a tangle with no immediate solution in sight. Even though time is running out quickly for a competition that is less than 75 days away, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have failed to come to an acceptable agreement.
No update on the final verdict
There was a sense of hope and expectation that on Wednesday (December 11), the final schedule for the February 19–March 9 event will be finally announced. However, the wait only continued as there was no update from ICC on the matter. In addition, there is no sign of the ICC Board members meeting, which was originally planned for December 7. There was no agreement on how to run the eight-team tournament, so the virtual meeting had to be postponed. Since then, it has not been called again.
As per the Cricbuzz report, at first, there was some residual doubt about the tournament's structure. However, the issue is not with the current ICC occurrences, but rather with the ones that will occur in the future. The 15-match tournament is moving towards a hybrid format, with 10 games played in Pakistan and possibly five more in Dubai. The BCCI's unwillingness to accept Pakistan's request that the same format be used when India hosts international events in the upcoming three years is the primary obstacle to a definitive resolution of the dispute.
Broadcasters back BCCI's stance
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Broadcasters that base their investments on Indian games that are peculiar to a given location also seem to support the BCCI's position. Broadcasters can further explain their financial commitments by stating that they were predicated on a certain number of Indian matches, which are the international cricket league's largest income generators and have higher returns when played in India.
The PCB's dilemma stems from its incapacity to accept the situation as it stands. Furthermore, it has adopted a "no-hybrid" position from which it is difficult to stray in the absence of satisfactory compensation. Pakistan's appeal for a tri-series involving India and another nation was an effort at a compromise. However, both the ICC and the BCCI rejected it.
Champions Trophy to be held in T20 format?
The Cricbuz report also states that ICC is already lagging behind in fulfilling its contractual duties to stakeholders, especially when it comes to adhering to deadlines. Broadcasters are under pressure to properly market the event now that the 90-day deadline has passed. It is possible that some stakeholders could resurrect calls to change the Champions Trophy to a T20 format, which is quicker and easier to market than the ODIs, which are rapidly becoming obsolete if the impasse continues.
