Mumbai: The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Emergent Board meeting, held virtually on Friday, fell short of resolving the deadlock over venues for the 2025 Champions trophy. There was little likelihood of any tangible resolution unless tournament hosts Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) softened their stance.
Minutes before the ICC board met, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, responding to a question from the media, said, “The BCCI has issued a statement. They have said that there are security concerns there (Pakistan). Therefore, it is unlikely the (Indian) team will be going there.”
The meeting among the 15 board members as per an ICC source is known to have been “brief” and concluded with the desire to meet again “to work towards a positive resolution.” The meeting did not make much headway once Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) refusal for the Indian team to travel to Pakistan was met with PCB reiterating its stance that a hybrid model, where India’s matches in the tournament are played at a neutral venue, was not acceptable to them.
Another source from the meeting said the PCB was categorically asked to come up with “solutions” when the board convenes again on Saturday and this time after consulting with their government to end the impasse for venues of the ICC tournament scheduled to be held next February-March.
Publicly, the Pakistan side has been upping the ante with Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB Chair, also Internal Minister in the Pakistan government, telling the media on Thursday that they will come out with “the best outcome for Pakistan.”
“It’s not possible that Pakistan play in India, and they don’t come here,” Naqvi said, suggesting that India’s refusal to play in Pakistan could mean a similar response from their side when India next hosts ICC events. India will be hosting the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, 2025 men’s Asia Cup and 2026 men’s T20 World Cup with Sri Lanka as co-hosts.
In reality, the options before PCB are limited. BCCI is an economic powerhouse in cricket, computed to be contributing 85 percent to the ICC revenue. ICC world events are heavily contingent on the Indian market with India hosting on an average three men’s events every eight years.
After taking a hard stance ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup, Pakistan finally did make the trip to India. Besides, about $70 million have been sanctioned to PCB to host the Champions Trophy and a number of their big stadiums are being renovated for this purpose. As a bargaining chip in the boardroom, the PCB’s only pull is that the India-Pakistan tie is a big draw in these events.
If the PCB sticks to its stand and the matter is put to vote, the entire tournament may have to be moved to a neutral venue. The ICC has no alternative but to push the PCB to arrive at a compromise. Sources remain hopeful that they will be able to provide a face-saving formula to the PCB.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah – he joined the meeting from Mumbai – is set to take over as ICC Chairman, next week.
Earlier, India’s Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar used a cricket analogy to highlight their foreign policy towards Pakistan while addressing former India international Mohinder Amarnath, whose book launch he was attending in New Delhi. “What you said about Pakistan of the 1982-83 tour, you said you played them better, because from the traditional side-on position, you moved to an open-chested position. I couldn’t have found a better description for our Pakistan policy,” he said.
With the directive from the Indian government clear, BCCI’s stance is unlikely to change. Besides, BCCI officials claim that from their conversations with Indian cricketers, they too are “not keen” to tour the neighboring nation for security reasons. India’s men’s team last crossed the border for cricket for the 2008 Asia Cup.
