Has Jaishankar's recent visit revived talks of India travelling to Pakistan for Champions Trophy? MEA responds
MEA responds to reports of IND-PAK resuming cricket talks with CT looming
India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has dismissed any reports of India-Pakistan cricket talks resuming following foreign minister S Jaishankar’s recent visit to Islamabad with the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 looming.
“Whether any conversation regarding cricket happened or not, I would say nothing of that sort happened. And the reports that you saw were not accurate,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Meanwhile, the latest report by Cricbuzz claims something else. Per the publication, during multiple talks between Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, this issue was raised several times, with Mohsin Naqvi, current PCB chairman and a government minister, reportedly joining this conversation at some point.
Given the Indian government will have the final say in deciding the team’s status of travelling to Pakistan, the BCCI and PCB cannot confirm anything yet.
The PCB has reportedly written to the BCCI, offering assistance should the Men in Blue decide against staying in Pakistan, citing security reasons, and return to India after their scheduled matches – with Chandigarh and New Delhi as options. An unnamed PCB official has confirmed this development, citing nearly a week-long gap between India’s final two games.
Meanwhile, per the proposed schedule shared with all stakeholders, including the eight participating teams, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi are zeroed in as the final venues, with the PCB scheduling all of India's games in Lahore. The city is close to the Indian border, making it easier for the fans to travel across for India’s matches against Bangladesh (February 20), Pakistan (February 23) and March 2 (New Zealand).
Changes to the schedule
As first put out by Cricbuzz, a few developments have emerged regarding the schedule, with local reports claiming that the broadcaster has requested the ICC to relocate one India game, especially the India-New Zealand match. The PCB provided Rawalpindi as an alternative.
However, the ICC officials and the broadcaster have denied any knowledge of such a request.
Besides, the ICC and PCB have chalked out a contingency plan of staging India’s matches outside of Pakistan should the BCCI deny permission to travel.
On the other hand, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) bosses are confident ofIndia, Pakistan and the ICC coming to the same page over this issue.
"There are lots of different alternatives and contingencies available if that doesn't happen. I wouldn't have thought (it would be played without India), because if you play the Champions Trophy without India the broadcast rights aren't there, and we need to protect them," Reuters quoted ECB Chair Richard Thomson as saying.
(With inputs from agencies)
