Australia as backup? ICC mulls shifting Champions Trophy, World Cup out of India over PAK conflict – Report
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Australia as backup? ICC mulls shifting Champions Trophy, World Cup out of India over PAK conflict – Report")
ICC mulls shifting Champions Trophy, World Cup out of India over PAK conflict Photograph: (AFP)
Following a bombshell report from 'The Age', the ICC is reportedly mulling shifting the 2029 Champions Trophy and 2031 ODI World Cup to Australia. Persistent tensions with Pakistan and Bangladesh have triggered a $250 million revenue risk. Get the full breakdown of the ICC’s contingency plan.
Cricket’s dynamics keep changing, and despite a handful of cricket boards holding most of the power, none can avoid an inevitable change. In the latest development surrounding India-Pakistan's ongoing conflict regarding venues and decisions around it, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is mulling shifting significant ICC tournaments out of India due to increasing yet unpleasant chaos involving the two countries and their cricket boards, which also puts the ICC in a spot ahead of its marquee match in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026.
Even though the scheduled match went ahead as planned, it took a lot of convincing from the ICC, something they wish to avoid doing in future.
India is scheduled to host two significant ICC tournaments in future – the 2029 Champions Trophy and 2031 ODI World Cup; however, since the BCCI and the PCB decided to honour mutual agreement (in December last year) that neither of the teams will travel to each other’s country for any cricket across genders and at any level, with a neutral venue hosting its matches (till 2031), the ICC has found it harder to make peace with it. Although Sri Lanka is co-hosting this 20-team tournament, granting Pakistan an alternate venue to play at this time, the logistics will go for a toss when India stages the tournament.
Per reports emerging out of Australia’s The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, India might risk losing its hosting rights for the two upcoming 50-over tournaments, with the ICC mulling Australia as an alternate.
Even though Australia and New Zealand own the hosting rights for the 2028 T20 World Cup, they could stage their first-ever Champions Trophy (in 2029) should the BCCI and PCB fail to end their long-standing tiff led by tense geopolitical relations. Australia, however, remain ICC’s top choice for the 2031 edition of the ODI World Cup should tensions continue to take precedence.
Where did it all begin?
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India and Pakistan last played a bilateral series in 2011/2012 when Pakistan toured India for three-match ODIs and as many T20Is. Since then, the two teams have faced off only in ICC and ACC events, including the World Cups, the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup tournaments.
Fast forward to late 2024, the Indian government denied sending its team to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy, citing security reasons. The BCCI, ICC and PCB then agreed on a hybrid model, with Dubai included as the last-minute alternate for India's games. The Men in Blue, however, won the tournament, beating New Zealand in the final in Dubai.
Meanwhile, ahead of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India, Pakistan decided against sending its team for the tournament in solidarity with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) over its team’s exit from the event. Although they agreed to participate in the tournament later, they decided against facing India in the scheduled league match, forcing the ICC to intervene and engage in several dialogues to convince the PCB.
After weeks of drama, and just ahead of the match in Colombo on Feb 15, the Pakistani Government gave a nod to its team to take on its arch-rivals, a contest they lost by 61 runs.
