The deadlock between India and Pakistan regarding the Champions Trophy 2025 is about to break, as PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi accepted the Hybrid Model in the recent ICC meeting. However, the PCB chief also said that if India implements the Hybrid Model in any ICC tournament under Pakistan’s hosting rights, then it should be the same for the future tournaments India has to host.
“A one-sided arrangement is no longer acceptable. It can’t be the case that we continue to go to India, but they do not visit Pakistan. Whatever happens must be on the basis of equality.” Naqvi told reporters after the ICC meeting in Dubai.
The PCB chief further added, “We will do whatever’s best for cricket. If we adopt any other formula (except hosting the tournament in Pakistan), it will be done on the basis of equality.
The most important thing for Pakistan is its respect; everything else is secondary.”
Mohsin Naqvi and PCB may have said that they can host the Champions Trophy in a Hybrid Model, but nothing can be said about the coherence of Naqvi’s statement.
Since conversations are still ongoing and the situation is fluid. PCB made their proposal for an equitable and long-term arrangement that would extend beyond the 2025 Champions Trophy in meetings with the ICC and BCCI in Dubai. The PCB urged equivalent opportunities for Pakistan to play outside of India at global competitions conducted there, which has higher possibility that India would not accept.
Pakistan demands a Hybrid Model for themselves for every ICC tournament India has to host in the next three years or till 2031. However, it is unclear if such provisions will apply for the following three years or until the current rights cycle expires in 2031.
In this span, India is set to host three major men’s tournaments: the 2026 T20 World Cup with Sri Lanka (February), the 2029 Champions Trophy (October), and the 2031 World Cup with Bangladesh (October-November), as well as the women’s ODI World Cup in 2025. The co-hosted events offer a solution, but any India-Pakistan game would present the same issue. And, while it is not under ICC authority, the next Asia Cup, slated for October 2025, will also be held in India.
Although BCCI remains tight-lipped about this right now, early indications suggest that it may be unable to accept a hybrid format for tournaments. With the current approaches of both BCCI and PCB, the ICC Board has called another meeting on December 5 to find a middle ground that can satisfy both India and Pakistan. Before this, both boards will have some days to prepare for getting NOCs from their respective governments on the decision of the December 5 meeting.
In the next ICC meeting, the options remain unchanged for both PCB and BCCI when the board met briefly last week: the tournament will be based on a hybrid model with India playing its games outside Pakistan, or the entire tournament will be hosted in another country, or the tournament will take place without India.
So now it’s up to PCB whether they want to remain the host and accept the Hybrid Model or lose hosting rights in the process of saving their so-called respect. Because every party in this matter, whether it be BCCI, PCB, or ICC, knows that organizing the Champions Trophy without India is not an option at all because it will be a total failure.
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