The fate of the ICC’s Champions Trophy 2025 hangs in the balance. There is uncertainty whether the whole event will be held in Pakistan or will it be staged in a hybrid model, like the Asia Cup last year. Or, will it be held at all. For a tournament that was last played in 2017, the current situation doesn’t augur well. Pakistan was awarded the rights to stage it, in November 2021, and there were no murmurs of dissent then. So how has it ended up in this quagmire?
The BCCI has refused to send its team to Pakistan for the event, to be played in February-March 2025, citing the denial of permission by the Indian Government. This is the stand maintained since 2008, when the Indian cricket team last toured Pakistan, for the Asia Cup. There wasn’t any cricket in Pakistan for almost a decade after the Sri Lankan team was ambushed in a terror attack in Lahore in 2009. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was played in 2012, when Pakistan toured India. In 2015, Pakistan had refused to tour India citing security concerns.
Both countries have, however, continued to play against each other in multi-lateral ICC and ACC events. There has been a great rivalry going back decades, and at this moment it rivals or even outshines the Ashes. However, some modern greats will have played out their careers without ever having played in Pakistan. Players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have never played in Pakistan, and it is unlikely this will change. Pakistan may have been hoping against hope that the Indian team will tour their country, especially after their team toured India for the ODI World Cup last year. The visit of India’s Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar, for the SCO Summit in Islamabad last month, further fanned their misplaced optimism.
India cites ‘security reasons’ for not playing in Pakistan, and it is not without reason or the only reason. The Pakistani media repeatedly points out that almost all other major teams have played there in recent times, and that they have been provided ‘Presidential’ security. That is a false equivalence. The threat level for the Indian team is far higher than Australia or England. The other teams haven’t fought wars or proxy wars against India, there is no sabre-rattling or rabble-rousing against their countries. The Indian team becomes a very High Value Target the moment it lands there, no matter what the security level is. There is a throng of crazed jihadis running amuck in that country, at last count there were 139 UN proscribed terrorists in Pakistan according to Dawn, their leading English daily. All it will take is for one of them to do something in the vicinity of the Indian team, and all hell will break loose.
This year alone so far, there have been 687 incidents of killing, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (satp.org). Statistics aside, it is the unwillingness of the Pak military establishment to do anything about it, and that is galling. The mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi, is seen working out in his lawn. Lashkar-e-Tayyaba’s supremo Hafiz Saeed, isn’t exactly behind bars, as he is said to be under ‘house arrest’. Many others wanted by India continue to roam freely in Pakistan.
India’s list of grievances is long, and they see this as a chance to put the wringer on Pakistan. It may or may not be ‘security’ that is the sole reason, but according to India Today group’s Sports Tak, the BCCI has provided the ICC a dossier with details of terror related incidents, and why they think it is not safe for India to tour Pakistan. In the recent past, India has wielded its burgeoning influence and made sure Pakistan remained in the FATF Grey list for a few years. It seems part of the Indian Government’s policy to isolate Pakistan on the international stage, and who can blame them. Pakistan has long persisted with a policy of bleeding India through its proxies, notably in J&K. The recent spate of targeted terror attacks there after the elections hasn’t helped matters; it has only angered India further.
As things stand, Pakistan is sticking to its stand of holding the entire tournament in their country, but there are rumours swirling around that the hybrid angle is slowly worming its way into the equation. There is talk of putting India and Pakistan in separate groups, which means that the big ticket India-Pak game might not happen at all. This will be a big financial blow to the ICC and the broadcaster. The ICC must shoulder the most blame, as it has been letting things drift. The building work on the stadiums goes on, but it is a race against time. India has played its card, and is waiting and watching. The ‘force majeure’ clause may be invoked, after all there are precedents.
Let’s see what Pakistan does. The ICC is caught in the middle. The cricket fans, meanwhile, are waiting for the imbroglio to sort out. We’ve been there before, and again, all roads may lead to the UAE. They could even end in a cul-de-sac.
About author: Amarinder Sangha is a former Punjab (India) cricketer now based at Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He writes frequently on national, international issues related to the sport.
