Champions Trophy 2025: India captain Rohit Sharma and BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar© AFP
Will Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma travel to Pakistan or not? Now, that seems to be the latest bone of contention between the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board. After India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy saw the tournament being hosted in a hybrid model, reports claimed that there are some question marks on Rohit Sharma travelling to Pakistan – the original designated hosts – for the pre-tournament captains’ meet. Generally, captains of all competing sides congregate before any ICC event opening ceremony and talk about their plans and aims.
New BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said that whether national captain Rohit Sharma participates in the ICC’s pre-tournament engagements, including a press conference and official photo shoot, in Lahore is still being discussed.
“Whether Rohit Sharma travels to Pakistan for ICC media engagements is something that’s still not decided,” Saikia said.
Meanwhile, a PCB official conveyed his disappointment over reports that the Indian team would not wear Pakistan’s name on their tournament jersey.
“BCCI is bringing politics into cricket, which is not at all good for the game. They refused to travel to Pakistan. They don’t want to send their captain (to Pakistan) for the opening ceremony, now there are reports that they don’t want the host nation’s (Pakistan) name printed on their jersey. We believe that the world governing body (ICC) will not let this happen and support Pakistan,” a PCB official, on condition of anonymity, told IANS on Monday.
As far as Rohit Sharma visiting Pakistan is concerned, the matter is still under consideration and there are certain issues that the Indian cricket board needs to consider if its captain visits Pakistan for a customary photo-shoot and pre-event press conference.
It remains to be seen if the ICC decides to hold these events in Pakistan or shift the pre-tournament captains’ engagements to the UAE.
Even that would be a massive logistical task for all other teams, which are playing in Pakistan.
The opening match of the tournament between hosts Pakistan and New Zealand will be held in Karachi on February 19. India will start their campaign against Bangladesh a day later.
With PTI inputs
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