The Champions Trophy was an event hosted by Pakistan from 19 February to 9 March. However, due to the BCCI and Indian Government’s stance on security concerns for their team in Pakistan, they neither agreed to send their team to Pakistan nor boycotted the tournament.
Pakistan also took a stand against the claim of security concerns as all the International Teams came to Pakistan and played in PSL and bilateral series.
Pakistan described this as a mere political issue rather than a security concern. PCB said that if ICC would shift the venue to another country, Pakistan would boycott the tournament.
However, the Pakistan vs India match brings a lot of value to any cricket tournament as they don’t play bilateral series against each other. After long discussions and meetings between the Cricket boards, ICC concluded that the Champions Trophy would follow a Hybrid Model.
In that scenario, 3 Matches that involve the Indian team will be played in the UAE while the remaining matches will be played in Pakistan.
In case India qualifies for the semi-finals and finals, these will also shift from Pakistan. As a condition of this agreement, the Pakistan Team will not travel to India for the three upcoming tournaments in India. Instead, their matches will also move to the neutral venues.
This came at a cost that Pakistan will have to bear more expenses for organizing the tournament at a neutral venue (UAE). ICC has granted PCB $ 4.5 Million for organizing the matches of the Indian Team at a neutral venue (UAE). The only loss that PCB might incur during this shift to the Hybrid Model would be the lack of tourism in Pakistan.
The first match will be played between Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi while the most anticipated clash of India vs Pakistan will take place on 23rd Feb in Dubai.
When they last met in the Champions Trophy 2017, Pakistan defeated India and became the champion. Let’s see how things turn out this time.
