LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will send a letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday to seek reasons behind India’s refusal to send its team across the border for next year’s ICC Champions Trophy, sources told Dawn on Monday.

It is understood that the PCB has sought guidelines from the federal government on how to move forward after receiving an email from the ICC on Sunday, communicating to the board India’s refusal to tour the country for the tournament.

Sources said the PCB was preparing questionnaires for the ICC to explain the reasons behind the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) decision.

“As the BCCI has not given any reason behind its decision of not touring Pakistan, the future steps of the PCB to solve the issue can only be taken after knowing those,” sources told Dawn.

PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi has already ruled out the possibility of a “hybrid model” — under which India would play their matches at a neutral venue while the remaining tournament is played in Pakistan.

The model was adopted by the PCB for the 2023 Asia Cup, but that saw Pakistan host only four matches of the tournament while the rest were held in Sri Lanka.

Amid political tensions between the two neighbours, the BCCI has stood firm by the Indian government’s policy of not engaging with Pakistan in terms of bilateral cricket over the years.

However, after having played the last bilateral series against each other in 2012, Pakistan and India have competed in ICC tournaments and the Asia Cup. Pakistan, in fact, visited India to feature in the ICC World Cup last year.

The visit, if anything, heightened expectations of India returning the favour by touring Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, which is set to be held in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi from Feb 19 to March 9 next year.

While addressing reporters last week, Mohsin had said that the PCB should not be expected to “carry on with their good gestures”, pointing at Pakistan’s flexibility toward the Indian government’s stance of not sending their cricket team to the neighbouring country.

Sources said that the ICC had limited options; either to shift the tournament to another country or to take it forward without the Indian cricket team.

But with BCCI secretary Jay Shah set to take charge as the president of the ICC on December 1 and with India considered a powerful financial partner of the sport’s global governing body, leaving out the Indian cricket team is not a realistic option for the ICC.

“Yes, the ICC could shift the tournament out of Pakistan, while offering the PCB some compensation amount as it did in 2009, by shifting the Champions Trophy from Pakistan to South Africa in the backdrop of the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore the same year,” sources said.

A key PCB official on the condition of anonymity told Dawn that it was ironic that the ICC was not a powerful body as compared to the International Olympic Committee and the FIFA, which have successfully not allowed politics to affect scheduling of matches in global tournaments.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2024