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India and Pakistan will reportedly face-off in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on February 23 in Colombo and Dubai.
Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam (AFP)
India will play next year’s Champions Trophy matches on neutral ground after refusing to visit tournament host Pakistan, the International Cricket Council said Thursday following weeks of wrangling.
India and Pakistan will reportedly face-off in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on February 23 in Colombo and Dubai, with the venue serving as the base for the Men in Blue, according to a report in the IANS.
“India will take on Pakistan at a neutral venue on February 23, 2025. ICC looking at Colombo and Dubai to host their matches,” sources told IANS on Thursday.
The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be played in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the marquee tournament will be confirmed in the coming days.
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The announcement ended a month-long standoff after India told the ICC it would not send its team to Pakistan because of security fears and political tensions.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had earlier refused to play the Champions trophy on a so-called hybrid model but backed down after settling on neutral venues — yet to be announced — for both sides in ICC tournaments.
“India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC board confirmed,” said a statement released by the council.
“This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan).”
The agreement will extend to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 hosted by India, and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 hosted by India and Sri Lanka, the statement added.
Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017. Both teams last played against each other in the T20 World Cup in New York earlier this year which India won by six runs and went on to claim their second silverware in the format.
Due to the strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan only play each other in international events including World Cups and Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13 when the latter toured India for the five-match white-ball series.
(With inputs from Agencies)
