Former Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Kamran Akmal slammed the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not coming up with a permanent solution for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 which will take place next year. The tournament was scheduled to take place in Pakistan but the Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) denied sending the team to the neighbouring nation for the marquee event citing players' safety.
After BCCI's appeal, there are reports that the tournament will be played in a hybrid model where India-centric matches will be played at a neutral venue.
With the ICC set to decide on the Champions Trophy soon, Akmal said it is time to find a permanent solution to this problem. He also wants the ICC to adopt the hybrid model for Pakistan for all the ICC events hosted by India.
“The ICC has to make a decision sometime and I think this is the right time to find a permanent solution. If this Champions Trophy adopts a hybrid model with India not coming to Pakistan, then all other ICC events in India should adopt the same pattern with Pakistan not touring India," Kamran told Telecom Asia Sport in an exclusive interview.
He also opined the ICC should remove India vs Pakistan matches from their tournament's schedule until the arch-rivals start playing a bilateral series against each other.
"In my opinion, another solution is that the ICC should not schedule Indo-Pak matches until and unless there is a bilateral series. Once they start playing each other then only we should have matches in a multi-national event," Akmal was quoted as saying by the website.
“I am disappointed to see such a scenario but enough is enough as Pakistan have toured India despite one 2016 World Cup match shifted from Dharamshala to Kolkata and then Pakistan played in Ahmedabad last year despite reservations.
He also urged PCB to take a strong decision for the upcoming tournament and should stick to it to create a good image.
“Pakistan will have to take a strong decision and stick to it. That will help Pakistan create a good image,” he said.
Akmal labelled India's policy of not touring Pakistan but wanting them to play in India as “double standard".
“On one hand they don't want to play us in Pakistan on political issues but on the other hand they play us in their country and that is a double standard,” said Akmal.
Team India hasn't toured Pakistan since 2008 after 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. On the other hand, Pakistan visited India in 2023 to feature in the ODI World Cup where Babar Azam-led side failed to perform in the marquee event and got out of the tournament after playoffs.