The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has all but accepted a hybrid model for the 2025 Champions Trophy with a few riders, RevSportz understands. They are expected to communicate this to the International Cricket Council (ICC) by Sunday. The game’s governing body will then reconvene its Board meeting to finalise the details – venues, schedule et cetera – of the tournament. The Champions Trophy, an eight-team ODI event, is scheduled to be played in February-March next year, with the PCB hosting the event.
According to sources, the PCB will attach certain clauses in their communication to the ICC for agreeing to a hybrid model. They will ask for an added incentive apart from the hosting fee, which is around $65 million. They will also ask for a bigger share of the ICC revenue, which currently stands at 5.75 per cent of the global body’s total projected earnings of $600 million for the 2024-2027 cycle. Also, they will demand that the next four ICC events in India – the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, the 2029 Men’s Champions Trophy and the 2031 Men’s ODI World Cup – follow the hybrid model as well.
“The point is that, if India don’t come to play in Pakistan, the PCB will not send the team to play in India as well,” said the source. In any case, the 2026 T20 World Cup would be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, while Bangladesh is the co-host for the 2031 ODI World Cup. It needs to be seen if the ICC Board accedes to the PCB’s demands.
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A PCB climbdown… “We will do what’s the best for cricket,” a seemingly defensive PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi tells reporters in Pakistan, with the Champions Trophy set for a hybrid model.@BoriaMajumdar @shamik100 #ChampionsTrophy #PCB @ThumsUpOfficial pic.twitter.com/ph8fJnafWa
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) November 30, 2024
On Friday, the ICC Board met virtually over the Champions Trophy issue and the PCB was presented with a couple of options – accept a hybrid model or risk losing the tournament. The PCB was advised to find a workable solution in consultation with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), ICC and some other member boards. Some time was sought. Pakistan, in fact, stood isolated in the ICC, with all other participating boards siding with the BCCI and supporting a hybrid model.
Sources said the PCB took the matter to Pakistan’s foreign ministry and hectic parleys went on behind the scenes. And despite PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi saying that they would “take the injury and not the insult” this time, better sense prevailed and a climb-down happened. Naqvi, it is learnt, had a meeting with the Emirates Cricket Board top brass as well.
Earlier, the BCCI had informed the ICC that the Indian team wouldn’t travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy as they didn’t get the Indian government’s approval due to security reasons. And although the PCB did a lot of posturing, a hybrid model became the only option. Under this model, India will play their group league matches in a second country – likely in Dubai – and a semi-final and the final will also be held there if India qualify.
Also Read: Pakistan Cricket Board to get a reality check and possibly lose Champions Trophy hosting rights