Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, on Thursday, showed his support towards the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) being firm in their stance to avoid adapting the hybrid model for the impending Champions Trophy tournament, slated to be held next year in February, after BCCI formally told the ICC that they won’t travel to Pakistan for the event.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Afridi blamed BCCI for “intertwining politics with sports,” which put international cricket in a “precarious” position, and hence urged ICC to assert authority amid the scheduling chaos for the Champions Trophy.
The Pakistan legend also highlighted that since the 26/11 incident in 2008, following which India stopped all bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan, the latter toured India five times – including a bilateral series in 2012/13.
“By intertwining politics with sports, the BCCI has placed international cricket in a precarious position. Fully support the PCB’s stance against the hybrid model – especially since Pakistan (despite security concerns) has toured India five times, including a bilateral white-ball series, post-26/11. It’s time for the ICC and its Board of Directors to uphold fairness and assert their authority,” he tweeted.
ICC to discuss hybrid model in board meeting on Friday
According to a report in The Indian Express, the ICC are keen to discuss the possibility of adapting the hybrid model for the Champions Trophy in the virtual board meeting on Friday, especially in the wake of the Islamabad unrest, which led to Sri Lanka Cricket Board cancelling their A team’s tour in Pakistan.
PCB did adapt the model during the Asia Cup last year, when majority of the matches, including the knockouts, were staged in Sri Lanka despite Pakistan being the host nation. However, PCB have reportedly told ICC to not refrain from discussing the hybrid model in Friday’s meeting.
“I can confirm that PCB has a few hours back told the ICC that a Hybrid Model is not acceptable to them,” a source told PTI. “ PCB had looked at the possibility of a Hybrid model on the condition that if India can’t play in Pakistan, then in future there would be Hybrid models in all ICC events in India right until 2031 (ODI World Cup in India and Bangladesh) as Pakistan would not go and play in India.”
