Former Pakistan National Cricket Team player Rashid Latif has shared his verdict on the Indian team not traveling to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. He said that Men in Green should stop cricketing ties with their neighbors as a strong decision is needed against their actions.
India National Cricket Team reportedly won’t be traveling to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has written to the International Cricket Council that the Government of India hasn’t given them a green signal, and hence they won’t be playing in Pakistan.
There have been several reports have claimed that if India doesn’t travel to Pakistan, the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will be played in a Hybrid model, with Team India set to play games in either Dubai or Sri Lanka. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board has been strong in its stance and has stated that it will be staging the entire tournament in Pakistan.
Some other sections of the reports have stated that ICC has provided an ultimatum to Pakistan that if they won’t stage the tournament in the Hybrid model, then the entire tournament will be shifted to South Africa. This all the fuss had made pundits react to it and the latest to join the bandwagon is Rashid Latif.
There’s a big possibility that Pakistan can stop playing cricket against India – Rashid Latif
Rashid Latif, while talking about the same, said that if he was in power in PCB, he would have taken steps to stop playing cricket with India. He added that stop the hosting rights for both countries until these issues between them are resolved. While speaking to PTI, Rashid Latif explained:
“There’s a big possibility that Pakistan can stop playing cricket against India. Had I been in power, then, yes, I may have taken this strong step. I would not blame anyone for this. If you don’t want to play, then don’t play against us. If I would have been there, I would have taken this decision and fought against the BCCI.
“In my opinion, ICC should withhold the hosting rights for both countries until these issues between them are resolved; until their problems are settled. Why aren’t India and Pakistan getting banned? Because ICC has a lot of stake on them.”
This is the first time, I would say, the BCCI is at fault – Rashid Latif
Rashid Latif blamed BCCI, saying that the Indian team are citing security reasons for not traveling to Pakistan. While arguing on that, he said the ICC security team hadn’t found any issues. He added:
“This is the first time, I would say, the BCCI is at fault. The reason they are stating is very weak. It has to be in writing that the BCCI and the Indian cricket team are feeling threatened. The ICC security team came here and gave the green light for the tournament. If you had issues, you could have reported to them.”
It has to be written down on a piece of paper – Rashid Latif on ICC moving Champions Trophy to South Africa
Rashid Latif, while talking about the Champions Trophy being shifted elsewhere, said that if such talks are going on, it has to be written on paper. He stressed that if India and Pakistan don’t play, it will be a loss for BCCI as PCB can survive playing bilateral series even if they don’t play major ICC tournaments. He elaborated:
“Nobody has seen it on paper. It has to be written down on a piece of paper. We had a word with the PCB they said they have sent an e-mail to the Pakistan government regarding this. This is a serious legal issue, nobody is willing to give it in writing.”
“We didn’t play at home for 12 long years. What could be more painful than that? Pakistan will get 34 million dollars every eight time, whether they play India or not. The boards that are rich will suffer losses, not a board like PCB that doesn’t have the money. Pakistan can survive playing bilateral series even if they don’t play major ICC tournaments,” Rashid Latif concluded.
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