The International Cricket Council has made significant progress regarding the 2025 Champions Trophy, reaching an agreement that implements a hybrid model. This model ensures that matches featuring India during the eight-team tournament will occur at a neutral venue. In a reciprocal arrangement, matches involving Pakistan in ICC events hosted by India will also be conducted at neutral locations.
Details of this agreement have emerged following an ICC board vote, which highlights a structured resolution to an issue that has persisted within the cricketing community. The terms of the agreement cover the 2024-2027 event cycle, explicitly stating that all matches featuring India in events hosted in Pakistan will take place at a neutral venue. Conversely, all matches involving Pakistan in tournaments hosted by India will likewise occur at neutral locations. This stipulation includes knockout matches such as semifinals and finals, ensuring that the arrangement applies broadly across critical tournament stages.
The implementation of this agreement will commence with the 2025 men’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan, subsequently extending to the 2025 women’s ODI World Cup in India, as well as the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The presence of Sri Lanka as a co-host provides a straightforward logistics framework, whereby any matches that see India and Pakistan drawn against one another—whether in group stages or knockout formats—will be held in Sri Lanka. The agreement may also extend to the 2028 women’s T20 World Cup, which Pakistan has been awarded, marking the initiation of the subsequent event cycle.
The tournament host will be responsible for selecting the neutral venue, subject to approval from the ICC. For the Champions Trophy, the Pakistan Cricket Board must propose a suitable neutral venue within 24 hours of the agreement's finalization. Currently, the United Arab Emirates is considered a frontrunner for this purpose, although Sri Lanka is also being discussed as a potential venue. It is important to note that the PCB will retain full hosting rights for the Champions Trophy event.
Beyond the Champions Trophy agreements, discussions have also included the possibility of a triangular or quadrangular T20I tournament featuring India, Pakistan, and another Full Member from Asia, with the potential addition of an Associate Asian nation for a quadrangular format. This consideration appears to have been a significant point of negotiation for the PCB in the discussions surrounding the impasse. However, the ICC has maintained that it will not obstruct such an event from occurring and has indicated that similar neutral venue arrangements will be in effect as outlined for ICC events.
The resolution has been met with a considerable sense of relief among all stakeholders, particularly given the impending start date of the Champions Trophy. This agreement comes in the wake of heightened uncertainty spurred by the Board of Control for Cricket in India informing the ICC that it would not travel to Pakistan for the event, a decision communicated over a month ago. This announcement set off a lengthy period of negotiation involving the PCB, the BCCI, and the ICC, further complicated by the strained political relations between India and Pakistan.
Government involvement was crucial to the agreement's finalization, with officials from both nations participating throughout the negotiation process. Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chair, simultaneously holds the position of interior minister within Pakistan’s government, while Jay Shah, who served as the BCCI secretary until assuming the role of ICC chairman on December 1, is the son of India’s home minister, Amit Shah. Initially, the PCB had opposed the adoption of a hybrid model for the event, but as negotiations progressed, there was an evident shift toward seeking a resolution that promotes fairness and long-term viability.
Consequently, this agreement represents a significant achievement for the PCB, ensuring that their matches in the next two ICC events hosted in India will take place at neutral grounds. This structured arrangement not only mitigates immediate concerns related to logistics and conflicts but also sets a precedent for future interactions and competitions between these two cricketing nations. As the cricketing world looks forward to these upcoming events, the clarity provided by this agreement can foster a more cooperative environment within international cricket, benefitting all involved stakeholders.