Forget bilateral series, India may not even travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy: BCCI sources

Team India may not travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy next year, and the venue for the event will likely get shifted or a hybrid model used, sources in the BCCI told IANS on Tuesday. They added that a bilateral series with the neighbours is “unlikely” in the near future.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Monday reportedly said that they would think about a bilateral series with India if they send their team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.

However, sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said, “Forget bilateral series…Team India may not even travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. There might be a change of venue, s hybrid model is also possible.”

“The Indian board would need permission from the government for travel, currently our relations with Pakistan are not that good either,” sources told IANS. “Champions Trophy is an ICC event, so it would be a tough call for India but nothing without the government’s order/green signal. Bilateral series, I don’t see in the near future, that’s next to impossible.”

India and Pakistan last played a bilateral limited-overs series in 2012-13, when Pakistan visited India.

Last year, India refused to send its team to play the Asia Cup in Pakistan and eventually, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) had to adopt a hybrid model for the event which was split with a vast majority of the matches being organised in Sri Lanka.