The first major assignment for Gautam Gambhir, the newly-named head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, will be the ICC Champions Trophy, slated to begin in February 2025 in Pakistan. It will also possibly mark the end of the glorious white-ball careers of captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who earlier retired from T20Is last month following the World Cup win in Barbados. Hence, it will remain a significant tournament not just for fans but also for Indian cricket as a whole.
However, earlier this week, rumours were rife that India won’t be travelling to Pakistan for the ICC tournament and urge the International Cricket Council (ICC) to either change the venue for the Champions Trophy or schedule India’s matches to a neutral nation. It further sparked speculations on whether India would at all participate in the tournament if ICC does not pay heed to BCCI’s request. However, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla brushed aside all rumours.
“We do not know which source gave such information. BCCI has not put out any official information regarding this,” Shukla told ThePrint.
The Indian cricket team has not travelled to Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup, owing to rising political tension between the two neighbouring countries, while the two nations last played a bilateral series in early 2013. Since then, India and Pakistan have only met in multi-nation events.
Earlier in 2023, Pakistan were slated to host the entire Asia Cup tournament, but on BCCI’s reluctance to send the Indian team to the country, the Asian Cricket Council adapted to a hybrid model, wherein, all of India’s matches were played in Sri Lanka, along with the tournament final.
In May 2025, Shukla had clearly stated Indian stance saying that it entirely depends on whether the team gets a permit from the central government. He said: “In the case of the Champion Trophy, we will do whatever the Government of India will tell us to do. We send our team only when the Government of India permits us to do so. So we will go according to the decision of the Indian government.”
However, in case India pull out, Sri Lanka will be named the replacement team. The former champions failed to qualify after finishing ninth in the 2023 ODI World Cup points table group stage. This is also the first time Sri Lanka has not qualified for the tournament.
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