LAHORE: A colourful ceremony to mark the opening of the ICC Champions Trophy, without any participating team, is set to held here at the historical Lahore Fort on Sunday.

The eight-nation Champ­ions Trophy is scheduled to start from Feb 19 when hosts Pakistan face New Zealand in Karachi.

As all four teams, out of total eight participating, are in Karachi, surprisingly, the International Cricket Council and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) picked Lahore as the venue for the ceremony.

Traditionally, the participating teams attend the opening ceremony before the start of the first match of the Cha­mpions Trophy, besides the photoshoots of the captains.

However, this time no such ceremony will be held because the Indian government refused to send its team to Pakistan to play any match of the Champions Trophy or attend the opening ceremony or the photoshoot of the event. As a result, all the Champions Trophy matches involving India are going to be held in Dubai.

Moreover, the England and Australian teams also dela­yed their arrival, despite ending their respective tours of India and Sri Lanka. Acco­rding to the fresh plan, the England squad will arrive in Lahore on Feb 18 while the Australian touring party is due to touch down here on Feb 19.

The Bangladesh and Indian teams are required to reach Dubai directly.

Four teams — New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan along with Pakistan — are currently in Karachi, preparing for their opening matches. Therefore, they are unable to come to Lahore to attend the opening ceremony.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2025