There will be two places in the 2025 Champions Trophy to be hosted by Pakistan, with India playing all its matches in the UAE, a move that suggests the tournament should eventually be settled as per Prime Minister Modi’s requirements. He rules the country, according to an opinion article published in Telegraph.
The final was scheduled to be played in Lahore, but if India qualifies for this match, it will also be moved to the UAE.
The situation has been described as exceptional in the world of sports, where one country has the power to prevent another country from hosting a final that has already been agreed upon.
Furthermore, this situation also opens up the possibility that the venue of the final will not be known until March 4, just five days before the final.
It is worth noting that Lahore was preparing to host the final, which will be the first time Pakistan has hosted the final of a global event since 1996. If India qualifies, these plans will have to be abandoned without any thought to the fans or the organisers.
In 2021, Pakistan was announced to host the Champions Trophy and the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded the country all 15 matches.
During that period, no provisions were made regarding India’s matches being played in a different country. However, despite this, the agreement was ignored and the entire organization of the tournament was rearranged to suit India.
In addition, the other seven competing nations in the tournament do not know where they will play the knockout matches, if they qualify.
Of course, only India knows the possible places for the semi-finals and final.
Earlier, the same issue of ICC events took place from the India end. In the 2019 World Cup, India did not play their first match until eight days into the tournament.
India last played a group match in the tournament in both the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cup, meaning that if qualification is decided by net run rate, the team will know exactly what they need to do to qualify.
Moreover, this year in the T20 World Cup, India did not have the same advantage but perhaps got a greater benefit as they were guaranteed to play the semi-final in Guyana, regardless of the position they finished in the previous stage.