NEW DELHI: As the suspense on the India-Pakistan standoff over the hosting of Champions Trophy continues, there were reports on Friday that BCCI had informed Pakistan Cricket Board that it won’t send the Indian team to Pakistan for the tournament and wanted play its matches in Dubai, even though PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi denied receiving any formal communication from BCCI.
As per standard practice, BCCI must obtain clearance from the Indian government before taking any call on team’s travel to Pakistan.
Amidst this standoff, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali made a startling revelation that some other cricket boards may also refuse to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.
Talking on his YouTube channel on Saturday, Basit Ali said, “BCCI has not yet said no. BCCI will say no on the 11th and I will see that which other cricket boards would say no. I am saying this because IPL has a huge influence. All the cricket boards in the world earn big money from the IPL. Every player gets 10-15 percent of the IPL earnings. So what will be the stance of Australia, England and New Zealand cricket boards will be clearer on the 11th.”
Basit Ali praised PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi for holding a fine press conference and stated that all the talks in Pakistan and in India has died down, now it’s all down to paper work.
Basit Ali said, “What BCCI will say on paper, how does PCB respond and how the ICC will go ahead. All will be clear day after tomorrow (Monday). But Pakistan will not lose here, money won’t win here, it’ll be cricket that will suffer, because those who love cricket will talk about the game, those who love money will talk about other things. Let’s see, it’s a part of life, everyday is not a Sunday. The world will not remain the same. I will just see which boards will be in favour of Pakistan, and which boards will favour BCCI because of the pressure of IPL.”
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PCB had agreed on a hybrid model while hosting the Asia Cup in 2023 with India playing all their matches in Sri Lanka. Pakistan had eventually agreed to play India in Ahmedabad during the ODI World Cup as well.
If things don’t change on BCCI’s front, PCB will have to take the matter to the ICC where incumbent BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who assumes office as chairman of the ICC on December 1, will have to take a decision on the issue. As per policy, ICC doesn’t interfere in any country’s diplomatic policies.
Sources said BCCI wants the decision on this issue to be taken before Shah takes charge as ICC’s chairman.
If PCB eventually agrees to the hybrid model, it will be interesting to see which venue ICC suggests for the final.
PCB had reportedly floated the idea of Indian team setting up a base in Chandigarh and travelling to Lahore only on match days. However, that idea is deemed as a logistical nightmare.
