Harbhajan Singh on Champions Trophy 2025: Legendary Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is of the opinion that Pakistan’s security is not good enough to host the Indian cricket team and that the Men In Blue should not travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have submitted their draft proposal for the Champions Trophy 2025 to the ICC. The tournament will be played in February-March next year.
To have fewer complications with the security and logistics of the Indian team, the PCB drafted India to play all their group games in Lahore. Further, should India reach the semi-final, they will play in Lahore. Lahore is also slated to host the final of the Champions Trophy 2025.
Despite the security assurances, the Indian government and the BCCI are highly unlikely to allow the Indian team to travel to Pakistan for next year’s ICC tournament. In that case, the ICC will be forced to adopt a hybrid model for the tournament where India play their matches in UAE or Sri Lanka. A hybrid model was used in the Asia Cup 2023, which was hosted by Pakistan but India’s matches and the final were played in Sri Lanka.
I support BCCI’s stand: Harbhajan Singh on Champions Trophy 2025
Harbhajan Singh has made the blunt remark that there is a massive security issue in Pakistan. Hence, he reckons, the Rohit Sharma-led unit should not travel to the neighboring country for the Champions Trophy 2025.
Speaking with IANS, Harbhajan said, “Why should the Indian team go to Pakistan? There is a safety concern in Pakistan. The situation in Pakistan is such that incidents occur almost every day. I don’t think it’s safe (for the team) to go there. The stance of the BCCI is absolutely correct and nothing is more important than the safety of our players. I support BCCI’s stand.”
It has been learned that the PCB has decided to host the Indian team in the nearest hotel to the Gaddafi Cricket Stadium in Lahore, which would mean minimal travel to and fro between the stadium and hotel for the Men In Blue.
India have not traveled to Pakistan since 2008, and the two nations have not played in a bilateral series since 2013 due to political tensions between them.
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