Afghanistan cricket team in action©AFP
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has received a major boost in its bid to successfully host the ICC Champions Trophy early next year after Afghanistan secured its participation in the tournament. Afghanistan Cricket Board Chairman Mirwais Ashraf and CEO Naseeb Khan, who were in Colombo to attend the ICC Annual Board Meeting, met PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and gave him the assurance . “They told the president that Afghanistan is eager to send their team to Pakistan as they are participating in the Champions Trophy for the first time,” said a PCB.
“They gave the assurance following speculations about some countries going India’s way if the BCCI decides not to send its team to Pakistan for the event,” he said.
The general perception in Pakistan is that due to its financial clout and clout, the BCCI can easily convince other boards in the region, including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, to follow its path.
A former PCB chairman Khalid Mehmood recently stated in an interview that if India did not send its team to Pakistan, teams like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan could be expected to tow the line and insist on playing the competition in some other location.
But during the meeting in Colombo, ACB officials assured Naqvi of Afghanistan’s participation in the 2025 Champions Trophy, which Pakistan will host in February and March.
The Champions Trophy is the first major ICC event scheduled in Pakistan since it hosted the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.
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