Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed that they have selected the United Arab Emirates as the neutral venue for the Champions Trophy 2025. “The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has selected the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the neutral venue for the Champions Trophy 2025,” said PCB spokesperson Amir Mir in a statement to IANS.
“The PCB has formally informed the ICC about the decision on the neutral venue. Now, the Champions Trophy matches of India and Pakistan will be held in the UAE. The decision on the neutral venue for the Champions Trophy would be taken by the host, Pakistan The final decision on the venue was made after a meeting between Mohsin Naqvi and Sheikh Al Nahyan, currently in Pakistan, is also the chairman of the UAE Cricket Board,” he added.
The International Cricket Council board confirmed on Thursday that matches between India and Pakistan in the upcoming ICC events till 2027, including next year's Champions Trophy 2025, will be played at neutral venues.
The neutral venue arrangements will apply to the upcoming 2025 ICC Men's Champions Trophy (hosted by Pakistan), which will be played in February and March 2025, as well as the 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup (hosted by India) and the ICC Men's T20. 2026 World Cup (hosted by India and Sri Lanka). Moreover, it will also be applied to the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in 2028, the hosting rights of which have been awarded to Pakistan.
Due to strained political relations, India and Pakistan only compete in international events such as the World Cup and Asian Cup. The last bilateral series between the two countries took place in 2012-13, when Pakistan toured India for a five-match white-ball series.
The Champions Trophy is scheduled to take place in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the major tournament will be confirmed in the coming days. Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017.
Both teams last played each other earlier this year at the T20 World Cup in New York, where India won by six runs to claim their second silverware in the format.
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