The Indian cricket team will tour the United Arab Emirates for Champions Trophy matches slated for later this year after the PCB announced that the Gulf nation had been selected as a neutral venue, amid strained political relations that have prevented the Indian team from touring Pakistan since 2008.
The BCCI has decided not to send its team to Pakistan for the tournament after receiving instructions from the Indian government owing to tense relations between the two neighbors. As of now, the matches between the two neighbors have been possible only in multi-team tournaments and the last one was during Pakistan’s visit to India in the 50-over ICC World Cup last year.
The United Arab Emirates have been chosen by the Pakistan Cricket Board as the neutral venue,” PCB spokesperson Amir Mir said in an email on Sunday. The Champions Trophy, featuring eight teams, is due next February and March. Last month the ICC announced that any matches between India and Pakistan in its events would be staged at neutral venues.
This will also be the case during next year’s women’s one-day international World Cup in India and will extend to the men’s Twenty20 World Cup in 2026 that India will co-host with Sri Lanka and to the women’s T20 World Cup in 2028 in Pakistan. The Champions Trophy will be the first ICC event in Pakistan since it co-hosted the World Cup in 1996 with India and Sri Lanka.
