Last Updated on 3 weeks by Charbel Coorey
The 2025 Champions Trophy has been in the headlines in recent days, with reports that India will refuse to travel to host nation Pakistan. A hybrid tournament with India playing in the UAE – or even shifting the entire competition to South Africa – is considered a possibility.
Richard Thompson, chair of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said that a tournament without India is not an option.
“It would not be in cricket’s interests for India not to be playing in the Champions Trophy,” Thompson said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. “It’s interesting, with Jay Shah – the former secretary of the BCCI and now chair of the ICC – [who] is going to have a big role to play in that. There’s geopolitics, and then there’s cricketing geopolitics. I think they’ll find a way. They have to find a way.”
However, many fans and journalists don’t agree, calling for India to be excluded from the tournament. The view is no team is bigger than the game, and if they choose not to travel, the competition should go ahead with Sri Lanka instead.
Also, there are reports that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is holding a firm stance when it comes to playing India in a different country. A PCB official told ESPNcricinfo that there is “no chance” of a hybrid model.
Calls for India to be removed from the 2025 Champions Trophy
Pakistani journalists have led the chorus of discontent at the BCCI’s reluctance to travel to Pakistan, with support from pundits and fans around the world.
Former cricket correspondent Paul Newman, based in the UK, wrote “If India won’t play in Pakistan they should be thrown out of the Champions Trophy.”
Alternative view: India right to refuse travel and Champions Trophy cannot go ahead without them
Fans have also pointed out geopolitical tensions between the nations and that the safety of India’s players should be paramount. Others have pointed to the huge snowball effect that could result from India’s absence in the tournament. Specifically, sponsors and broadcasters could either ask for a huge discount or pull out of their deals altogether, in turn affecting the ICC’s revenue distribution to other countries around the world.
“Imagine India thrown out. Next steps: 1. Star backs out. That’s roughly 200-300 million dollars. 2. Major Indian sponsors back out,” wrote one fan.
What is your view on the issue? If India refuse to travel to Pakistan, should they be excluded from the Champions Trophy? Or would the impact be too big?
