The Champions Trophy is one of the biggest and main cricket tournaments of ICC played every 4 years among the top 8 teams. This year Pakistan is the host country for CT 2025 and invited all 8 top teams to participate in this event which will be played from 19 February to March 9, 2025. But India refused to play in Pakistan and now all matches featuring India will be played in Dubai (UAE).
There is not one reason for the Indian team to play in Pakistan, there are multiple reasons why India Chose Dubai over Pakistan to Play Champions Trophy 2025. Here’s everything why are India’s matches in Dubai?
Reason 1: Security Concerns
BCCI is worried about security. As seen in the past few months, Pakistan is facing a civil war situation in their region and at that time sending Team India to the Champions Trophy 2025 is a big concern and India can’t take such a big risk.
The security concern from India is quite genuine as in the past in 2009 an attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket team was done by 12 gunmen near Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan. Later in 2021 as reported on france24.com, the New Zealand cricket team also cancelled the Pakistan tour over security concerns.
So, when the situation is even worse, there are reports of riots and the civil war situation is at its peak, it would be a foolish decision to send the Indian cricket team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025.
Reason 2: Geopolitical issues
Another reason is the geopolitical issues between India and Pakistan, which escalated after the 2008 Mumbai attacks (26/11), where terrorists targeted the Taj Hotel and other locations. In response, BCCI banned Pakistan players from the IPL, and no major bilateral series was played between India and Pakistan. Later, after the 2016 Uri attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack, the BCCI reaffirmed its stance of not playing in Pakistan. This is the reason; BCCI did not agree to send the Indian Cricket team to Pakistan for Champions Trophy 2025 and all matches featuring India will be played in Dubai.
Earlier BCCI decided if the Champions Trophy 2025 will be hosted in Pakistan, then we will not participate. But later, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreed on a hybrid model and it was decided, that India would play Champions Trophy, but all matches featuring India including semi-finals and final will be played in Dubai.
Final Words
So now, the ICC 2025 Champions Trophy 2025 will be played in Dubai and Pakistan from February 23 to March 9, 2025. All matches of team India will be played in Dubai at Dubai International Cricket Stadium and Here’s full schedule of CT 2025 (Group Stage and Knockout Stage) with Date, Time and Venue.
The much-anticipated match between India and Pakistan is scheduled for February 23, 2025, in Dubai and you can watch the live streaming of IND vs Pak (Champions Trophy 2025) on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2, and Disney+ Hotstar (OTT) at 2:30 PM IST in Hindi and English commentary.
Did we miss anything to highlight? Please let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to cheer up the much-awaited cricket tournament of 2025 #ChampionsTrophy #CT2025 #IndvsPak!
