Last Updated:
According to the former batter, Pakistan should not participate if the Champions Trophy is taken from them and conducted in some other country.
Basit Ali feels Pakistan should not participate if the Champions Trophy moves out of country. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Former Pakistani batter Basit Ali wants Pakistan to boycott playing in the 2025 edition of the Champions Trophy if the ICC event moves out of the country because of India’s refusal to travel Pakistan for the eight-team tournament. Pakistan is scheduled to host the Champions Trophy in February and March next year, but there are high chances that the tournament will be played in a hybrid model.
Ali, who has now donned the hat of an expert, wants the Pakistan Cricket Board to stay adamant in their decision to host the entire tournament in Pakistan. He feels that the Men in Green should not participate in the Champions Trophy if the tournament is conducted in some other country. As per various reports, after India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan, the tournament could be moved out of Pakistan and take place in the UAE, Sri Lanka, or South Africa.
“Pakistan should play all their matches in Pakistan. It is as simple as that. Pakistan should not participate if the Champions Trophy is taken from them and conducted in some other country. People are saying that the ICC will ban Pakistan if they don’t participate. Try to ban Pakistan if you have the courage. Everyone will lose their sleep,” he said in a YouTube video.
Citing an example of how Australia and the West Indies lost two points in the 1996 ODI World Cup after they refused to play in Sri Lanka, Basit wants India to also lose two points if the Champions Trophy gets played in a hybrid model.
“Do you remember that in the 1996 World Cup Sri Lanka got 2-2 points after the West Indies and Australia did not go? Try to put India and Pakistan in different pools; the ICC will refuse. Pakistan and India are always in the same pool because of money. If there is a hybrid model and India doesn’t visit Pakistan, give Pakistan two points. It has happened before too, so try it now,” he said.
India hasn’t travelled to Pakistan since July 2008, whereas Men in Green have toured India four times in the last 16 years to take part once in bilateral series (2012-13) and three times (2011, 2016, 2023) in ICC events.
