Karachi: Dubai has been locked in as the neutral venue to host India’s matches in the Champions Trophy with a semi-final and the final also to be staged in the UAE if Rohit Sharma and Co qualify for the knockouts.
A reliable source in the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed that Dubai was chosen as the neutral venue after a meeting between PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Nahyan Al Mubarak on Saturday night.
Sheikh Nahyan, who is currently vacationing in the Ghotki region of Sindh and Naqvi, who is also the country’s interior minister, met and finalised the logistical and administrative matters for the mega-event hosted by Pakistan.
On Thursday, the deadlock over the hosting of Champions Trophy finally ended when the ICC announced that India will play their matches of the 50-over event at a neutral venue instead of host country Pakistan, which will get a similar arrangement for tournaments to be held in India till 2027.
The ICC is now expected to announce the final schedule of the event with Pakistan expected to host 9 to 10 matches.
The final will be in Lahore If India doesn’t qualify for the final, the source said.
The hybrid arrangement will apply to the Champions Trophy 2025 (Pakistan), next year’s women’s Cricket World Cup in India and the T20 World Cup in 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.
India had refused to travel to Pakistan for the event scheduled in February-March due to security concerns.
The Indians have not played in Pakistan since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 150 people were killed. The two countries’ last bilateral engagement was back in 2012.
Travelling to Pakistan also requires Indian government’s clearance which has remained firm on the status quo.
While BCCI’s stance was always clear, the matter got stretched because of PCB’s refusal to allow a “one-sided” arrangement of neutral venues.
Led by Naqvi, the PCB was determined not to lose face in front of the local public.
PCB, which had sent its team to India for the ODI World Cup last year, had categorically opposed the hybrid model but eventually agreed to it on reciprocal grounds.
