Hybrid cricket

The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy impasse has finally come to an end. While the tournament is slated to start in February 2025, the release of the event’s schedule has been upheld for about a month now by India’s refusal to play in Pakistan. Initially, the Pakistan Cricket Board refused to accept a hybrid model for the tournament, which would see India’s matches being played at a neutral venue outside Pakistan, but the PCB switched to a more pragmatic stance as the dispute lingered. The deadlock was finally broken on Thursday (December 19), with India, Pakistan and the ICC agreeing to a hybrid model for not just the upcoming Champions Trophy but for all events involving India and/or Pakistan in a hosting role during the 2024-27 event cycle. The model will see all matches involving India in an event hosted in Pakistan being played at a neutral venue and vice versa. The event applies to the women’s cricket teams of both countries as well. The choice of neutral venue will be made by the tournament host, subject to approval by the ICC, with India’s games for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy likely to be played either in the UAE or Sri Lanka. The PCB will still retain full hosting rights over the event.

Aside from preserving Pakistan’s hosting rights, the resolution also refers to the possibility of a triangular or quadrangular T20 tournament between India, Pakistan and one other full ICC member from Asia and an associate nation from Asia if the tournament has a quadrangular format. This is reportedly one of the elements pushed for by the PCB during negotiations. Despite these victories, there can be no sugar-coating the fact that India has used its financial muscle to, once again, get its way even though it is clearly in the wrong. Ultimately, the BCCI had no valid reason not to send its players to Pakistan including any security concerns. Pakistan’s security situation is not ideal but several international teams have played in Pakistan, including Bangladesh and England earlier this year, without incident for several years now. While the PCB would have been completely justified in rejecting the hybrid model and not offering India any concessions, the possibility of the tournament not being played or broadcasters raising a furore over there not being any Pakistan-India matches and the ensuing financial damage would likely be too much for Pakistan.

The current solution seems to have been the most sensible option given India’s obstinacy. It is also unclear if the ICC would have given Pakistan the backing it deserved had Pakistan stuck with its initial stance. While the Champions Trophy dispute may be over, Pakistan can expect to be the target of similar Indian belligerence over the coming years in both sports and beyond. It can also expect to receive the same kind of help from global institutions that it got this time from the ICC, which is to say it will be ‘helped’ to accommodate India. Fairer, let alone just, outcomes will only be secured with a stronger Pakistan.