Amid the controversies of Champions Trophy 2025, Harbajhan Singh, former off-spinner of India, has sent a strong message to PCB. He claims that if Pakistan does not want to visit India, it’s their choice. Their absence from the tournaments will not impact much.
Ever since the hosting rights of Champions Trophy 2025 have been awarded to Pakistan, BCCI is showing reservations and have refused from traveling to Pakistan. They have cited the lack of proper security as their reason for not visiting the country and proposed a hybrid model.
While PCB was reluctant to the hybrid model initially, reports suggest that they have agreed towards adopting one due to the unstoppable pressure.
PCB has given up their stance and taken a decision in the best interest of the game. However, they have also proposed for all the upcoming ICC events to adopt a hybrid model and that they won’t be travelling to India as well until 2031.
The BCCI is now showing reservations on this proposal. They claim that India does not have any security issues and so, there is no need to shift tournaments hosted by India to a hybrid model.
Harbhajan Singh is popular for his comments related to the political and logistical tensions between India and Pakistan. Despite his friendship with many former cricketers of Pakistan, he has been found making degrading statements.
His recent one is no less than that as he says, ‘Don’t come to India if you don’t want to, we don’t have any issues. If Pakistan don’t come to India, it won’t matter much. You may ask current cricketers and they will have the same opinion. Had the situation in Pakistan been different, things could have been different.’
He also recalled old times when things were a lot better and India would visit Pakistan hassle-free. He claimed that Pakistanis were the most humble hosts. They were generous enough not to charge them for food and even gave the Indian Cricket Team a lot of valuable gifts.
Harbhajan says he felt sorry for the fans in Pakistan. They do not get to watch the top-tier players as of Virat Kholi play at their grounds.
The fans and people are not the ones at fault, he added. He also emphasized PCB on letting the Champions Trophy happen. He asked them to leave aside their stubborn side and make a decision that supports cricket.
While there are still many speculations about the tournament and the schedule is yet to be released, India is expected to be playing all their matches in the UAE.