The Champions Trophy 2025 is scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in 2025 but there are chances that it may be played in a hybrid mode just like the Asia Cup 2023 which was also hosted by Pakistan as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already refused to send the Indian team to Pakistan, citing that it won’t get permission from the Indian government.
The political and diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan are quite tense for many years now and they haven’t played bilateral series for a long time now. The cricket teams of India and Pakistan face each other only in the ICC and multi-nation tournaments. However this time, the Pakistan Cricket Board is not in the mood to shift India’s matches to Sri Lanka or Dubai and it has given the ICC responsibility of convincing the BCCI to send team India to Pakistan.
The former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali has warned the PCB in regard to one more concern or challenge which may make Pakistan lose the hosting rights of the Champions Trophy 2025. While speaking on his YouTube channel, Basit Ali stated that in the next five months, Bangladesh, England and West Indies are scheduled to visit Pakistan and the PCB should ensure that not even minor security lapse should happen otherwise Pakistan may lose the hosting rights. Basit Ali advised the Pakistani board to give top grade security as of the Prime Minister to all the teams in order to avoid any mishap.
Here’s what Basit Ali said, “After Bangladesh, England and West Indies are also scheduled to tour Pakistan and we must tighten our security. God forbid, any mishap (during these tours) will result in Pakistan losing hosting rights for Champions Trophy. Our soldiers are being martyred in Balochistan and Peshawar. Our government can explain better the reasons why but (what’s happening) it’s wrong. We cannot afford even a minor slip-up. We should offer the same level of security to the visiting teams as for the Prime Minister. There cannot be a minor incident. PCB chairman Mohsin will be aware of this.”
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What do you think of the advice given by Basit Ali to the Pakistan Cricket Board? Do you agree with him?
