In Pakistan Champions Trophy proposal, ‘supplementary fee’ clause for Indian team

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has left it to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to convince the BCCI to send its team to Pakistan for the upcoming Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in the first quarter of next year. According to a PCB source, although the budget for the Champions Trophy was approved at the recent ICC meetings in Colombo, the timing and format were not discussed. “The PCB has now done what was required of it as host of the Champions Trophy. He presented the draft schedule and format of the event and also presented the budget for the event,” said a PCB source.

“It is now up to the ICC as they circulate, discuss and finalize the Champions Trophy calendar. The PCB, for its part in drafting the calendar, suggested hosting all of India’s matches in Lahore, including a semi-final (if India qualify). and final,” he said.

Another source said that the PCB has already submitted all the details of its expression of interest document to the ICC as host of the Champions Trophy.

“The PCB, in turn, informed the ICC in writing about the tax modalities, the selection of the venue and its government’s permission for the Indian team to be based in Pakistan for the mega event,” he added.

The PCB initially presented its expression of interest in hosting the event in 2021, during Ehsan Mani’s term as Chairman of the board.

The ICC granted hosting rights in 2022 and later when Ramiz Raja was PCB chairman, the board submitted its final documentation for the venue agreement to be signed with the ICC.

The source revealed that PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi did not have any formal meeting with BCCI secretary Jay Shah or any other BCCI official on the sidelines of ICC meetings, but exchanges between Naqvi and Shah were cordial during the meetings .

The PCB has now left it to the ICC to finalize and announce the tournament schedule and also get confirmation from the BCCI whether the Indian team will travel to Pakistan.

Is the ICC action a tip to prepare for a hybrid schedule?

The ICC has kept supplementary expenses in its tournament budget to cater for any situation where the Indian team has to play its matches outside Pakistan.

The BCCI has always firmly maintained that playing cricket in Pakistan is entirely the government’s decision and even the 2023 ODI Asia Cup, which was organized by the PCB, witnessed India playing all its games in Sri Lanka based on the ‘Hybrid Model ‘.

According to the preliminary calendar, all of India’s matches, including a possible semi-final and final, have been scheduled in Lahore. The match between India and Pakistan has been scheduled for March 1.