Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Ramiz Raja, has assured that all participating teams will play the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy that will be held in Pakistan.
Addressing an online press conference, the former skipper said that the PCB is entirely capable of hosting a major ICC tournament efficiently and securely.
He added that Pakistan received the hosting rights of the 2025 Champions Trophy from the International Cricket Council (ICC) after a robust screening process that showed that Pakistan has got what it takes to organize such tournaments.
Chairman PCB went on to say that the board will do everything to address the concerns of the participating teams in a bid to ensure no team pulls out of the 2025 Champions Trophy at the last moment.
He said that Pakistan grappled with a lot of negativity after New Zealand cancel their tour at the eleventh hour and England called off their tour.
Remember that New Zealand canceled their Pakistan tour just minutes before the toss for the first ODI back in September. England followed in their footsteps and called off their Pakistan tour scheduled in October.
He added that Pakistan receiving the hosting rights of the 2025 Champions Trophy is a breakthrough for Pakistan’s cricket aspirations as it wasn’t easy to convince the ICC and participating teams to come to the country after the two above-mentioned incidents.
These remarks from the Chairman PCB come after the Indian Sports Minister, Anurag Thakur, threatened to pull out of the 2025 Champions Trophy just a day after the ICC announced Pakistan as the host of the major event.
Earlier this week, the ICC announced the hosts for every major white-ball tournament that is going to be played between 2024 and 2031. There will be 8 ICC tournaments in is this period and 14 countries will host them.
India received the hosting rights of 3 out of 8 tournaments while Pakistan received the hosting of only 1 tournament. However, Pakistan becoming the sole host of a major ICC tournament after battling a difficult period did not sit well with their arch-rivals India.
he doesn’t control the actions of foreign teams. he can’t guarantee anything.