‘We’ll play without them’: Pakistan pacer on India’s participation in Champions Trophy

With discussion continues around India’s plans to visit Pakistan for Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali has said that the tournament will be played without India, if they decide not to travel.

Reports had said that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) proposed hosting all of India’s matches in the Champions Trophy at the Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore including round matches, semi-final and final.

In June this year, the International Cricket Council (ICC) approved the Champions Trophy 2025 schedule proposed by the PCB.

Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi were the three venues proposed by the PCB in the initial draft schedule of the 2025 Champions Trophy, sent to the ICC.

However, several Indian media outlets reported that India was unlikely to send its team to Pakistan for the event and instead, will ask the ICC to reschedule its matches in UAE or Sri Lanka.

Now, Hasan Ali has asserted that the Pakistan Cricket Board will host the entirety of the tournament in Pakistan with or without the participation of India.

“If we’re going to India to play, then they should come to Pakistan too. Many people have said countless times that sports should stay away from politics. But if you look at it from another angle, many Indian players have said in interviews that they want to play in Pakistan,” said the pacer. “So, it doesn’t mean that the team doesn’t want to come; they definitely do. But obviously, they have their own policies, country, and board to consider,” he said during an interview to a private TV channel.

He backed the statement of PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi who reiterated that Champions Trophy will be hosted in the country.

“As our (PCB) chairman has already said, if the Champions Trophy is going to be held in Pakistan, then it will be in Pakistan. If India doesn’t want to come, we’ll play without them. Cricket should be played in Pakistan, and if India doesn’t want to participate, it doesn’t mean cricket has ended. There are many other teams besides India,” Hasan Ali added.

Pakistan and India have not played a Test since 2007/08 and a bilateral series in any format since 2012/13 due to the long-standing political tensions between the two neighbouring countries.

The fierce rivals, however, only came face to face in multi-national events like Asia Cup and ICC World Cups.

Last year, the PCB had to adopt a hybrid model while hosting the Asia Cup, whereby some games were played in Pakistan but all of India’s games and the final were held in Sri Lanka. A month later Pakistan travelled to India to play in the 50-over World Cup.