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The BCCI has ‘not decided’ if Rohit Sharma will travel to Pakistan for the pre-2025 Champions Trophy media engagements.
Rohit Sharma (Picture Credit: PTI)
Secretary Devajit Saikia has said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has ‘not decided’ if Rohit Sharma will travel to Pakistan for International Cricket Council (ICC)’s media engagements for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Pakistan is hosting the tournament but India’s matches have been shifted to the UAE due to the political tensions between the two countries. However, all the pre-tournament media engagements, like the captain’s day, where all leaders click photos with the trophies and speak to the media, will happen in Pakistan.
As BCCI denied the team from traveling to Pakistan due to security concerns, a few reports in India said Rohit might not attend the media events either.
“Whether Rohit Sharma travels to Pakistan for ICC media engagements is something that’s still not decided,” Saikia said on Wednesday, as quoted by news agency PTI.
There’s a chance the ICC will move the entire pre-tournament media formalities to the UAE to accommodate India but a decision on that is expected to come closer to the tournament, for it’ll bring logistical challenges of its own.
The Champions Trophy will begin on February 19, while India will play their first match against Bangladesh in the UAE on the following day.
The hybrid model has become the norm for ICC tournaments in the last decade-and-a-half. As part of the deal where the PCB accepted India’s matches to be shifted to the UAE, all such matches till at least 2027 will be hosted in neutral venues.
This might mean that the 2023 World Cup could be the last time Pakistan traveled to India for cricket in a long, long time.
Rohit Sharma playing in the Ranji Trophy
The Indian skipper has been in the news for more than one reason recently. After India’s 3-1 series loss in Australia, he has joined the Mumbai state team to play in the 2025 Ranji Trophy match against Jammu and Kashmir, starting on Thursday.
“Rohit has always been relaxed. Even playing at the international level, his character is similar. His attitude is pretty much relaxed. He knows his game really well so, no one has to tell him what he needs to do. Once he gets in, I’m sure he will do well. He has never changed, which is a very good thing,” Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane said on the eve of the match.
