Karachi: A clear message has been sent to India to give a written answer in “Yes or No” regarding the participation in the Champions Trophy.
PCB COO Salman Naseer has been busy meeting with ICC officials in Dubai for the past several days, and was joined by Chairman Mohsin Naqvi last week. As soon as it is announced, the Champions Trophy schedule is expected to be released at a ceremony in Pakistan on November 10-12, India’s matches will be held in Lahore.
According to the details, after a long time, Pakistan will host the ICC event in the form of the Champions Trophy in February and March next year. The atmosphere of uncertainty could not end.
The International Cricket Council usually releases the schedule of its events three months in advance, it is still the intention, according to the sources, the Indian Cricket Board has been given a clear message that they should give a written answer yes or no to their government regarding going to Pakistan. Lekher De, there will be a schedule release ceremony on one of the days of November 10, 11 and 12 in which ICC officials will also be present.
In retrospect, the decision on the team’s tour of Pakistan is never announced in writing by the Indian government, even now it seems unlikely.
Sources said that even if no response is received from India, the schedule will be released in which its matches are held in Lahore, however, in case of refusal, the ICC has already made a plan B for which Additional budget has also been allocated but is not discussed at public level.
On the other hand, PCB is fully hopeful that the Indian team will come for the Champions Trophy. According to the proposed schedule, the event will begin on February 19 with a match between the hosts Pakistan and New Zealand in Karachi. The next day, the Indian team will face Bangladesh in Lahore. On the 21st, Afghanistan and South Africa will play in Karachi, while Australia and England will compete in Lahore the next day.
New Zealand and India will face each other in Lahore on February 23, Pakistan team will play their second match against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on February 24, Afghanistan and England will play in Lahore on February 25, while Australia and South Africa will face each other in Rawalpindi the next day. On 27th, New Zealand will face Bangladesh in Lahore.
The next day, the teams of Afghanistan and Australia will compete in Rawalpindi. The biggest competition of the event is between the traditional rivals Pakistan and India on March 1 in Lahore. The next day, the match between England and South Africa will be held in Rawalpindi.
The semi-finals will be played on March 5 and 6 in Karachi and Rawalpindi, the winner will be decided on March 9 at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. It should be noted that many changes are possible in this proposed schedule.
On the other hand, the construction work of stadiums in Pakistan is going on rapidly, looking at the situation so far, it is expected that the three venues of Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi will be ready by the deadline of December 30. PCB has allocated about 13 billion rupees for this. done, an ICC delegation is going to visit Pakistan soon to review it once again.
