PCB Picks UAE As Champions Trophy Hybrid Location: Pakistan, the official host of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, has chosen the United Arab Emirates as the neutral venue for all the Indian Cricket Team matches in the competition.
For a couple of years now it has been known that Pakistan will host the return of the Champions Trophy to the international cricket calendar. However, for the last year, the BCCI has been attempting to get India to play their matches in a neutral venue.
PCB Picks UAE As Champions Trophy Hybrid Location
With security concerns being brought up as the reason for the Men in Blue not travelling to the neighbour nation, it has been suggested on several occasions that it was the decision of the Indian government to not send their cricket team to Pakistan.
So, a ‘hybrid’ model was proposed. First used in the 2023 Asia Cup in Pakistan, this model allowed for that tournament to be placed in Pakistan, but all of India’s matches, including the semi-final and the final, to be played at a neutral venue, which was Sri Lanka back then.
While the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was vehemently against the idea of not hosting the entire tournament on their soil, it was finally decided recently that CT 2025 will be played under a hybrid model.
Now, the hosts have picked the UAE as the neutral venue, where India will play all their matches, which might include a semi-final and a final.
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“Pakistan has chosen Dubai as the neutral venue for the Champions Trophy, and it has been conveyed to the ICC officially, meaning India will play its matches there,” said a PCB spokesperson.
When international cricket was banned in Pakistan after the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team, the UAE became the base of the national team, where they would play their home games.
Earlier this month, it was announced that not only will India not travel to or play any games in Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, but that for any ICC tournaments until 2028, neither of these two nations will send their national team to the other for a tournament. This includes the 2026 T20 World Cup in India, which too will be played under a hybrid model.
“This will apply to the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (Pakistan), ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (India), and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (India and Sri Lanka),” said an official statement by the ICC.
Besides India and Pakistan, six other teams will play in CT 2025: Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. The tournament will commence on February 19. Whereas the final will be played on March 9.
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