India has once again hinted at cricket diplomacy to convince Pakistan to host the ICC Champions Trophy on a hybrid model.
The Indian board, which refused to host the Champions Trophy scheduled for February and March next year just a few months ago, has once again refused to play the event using security as an excuse, while increasing pressure on board members and the International Cricket Council (ICC) to hold the tournament under a hybrid model.
However, an Indian journalist had mentioned cricket diplomacy recently that by adopting it, India may once again convince Pakistan for a hybrid model, however, the fact is that India has never taken the initiative on cricket diplomacy.
India hosted Pakistan for the 2023 ODI World Cup and had assured that it would send its team for the Champions Trophy, but the BCCI once again refused to come to Pakistan, due to which the tournament schedule is delayed and the broadcasting company is having to bear a loss of billions.
The ICC believes that the event may be dull without India, but this is the first time that all the teams are ready to go to the host country for the tournament, but because of one team, the future of the tournament looks bleak. There is no such example in the past.
How many Pakistani prime ministers have visited India as part of cricket diplomacy?
Three Pakistani prime ministers have visited India as part of cricket diplomacy to normalize the situation with the neighboring country, but no such step has ever been taken by India.
In the 1987 Jaipur Test match, Zia-ul-Haq visited India in very bad conditions in India, when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India.
In 2005, former President Pervez Musharraf went to India to watch an ODI match to try to ease the tension between the two countries, but that did not happen.
In 2011, Yousaf Raza Gilani visited India for the semi-finals of the World Cup, and then in 2012, the national team played a three-match series in India and an MoU was signed that the two countries should now mend their ways through cricket, but India refused to come to Pakistan and play again.
