ICC Confirms Hybrid Model For Champions Trophy 2025; India vs Pakistan Set To Be Played On Neutral Venue

International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday confirmed that the upcoming ICC Men's Champions Trophy will be played in the Hybrid model.

Hyderabad: The 2025 ICC Men's Champions Trophy will be played in the hybrid model (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025. Apart from this, the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka) will be hosted in a hybrid format.

The tournament, scheduled to begin on February 19 in Pakistan, faced uncertainty due to India's refusal to travel to the host nation. It will be the first instance when the Champions Trophy will be held in Pakistan since its inception in 1998. Notably, Pakistan are the defending champions held in England, having defeated the Virat Kohli-led Indian side in 2017.

The ICC are yet to confirm the schedule of the upcoming ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025. Pakistan would aim to defend the title. It will be interesting to see where the highly anticipated clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be, as the latter country has said that they won't travel to the neighbouring country.

"India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at the ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December," ICC said in the statement.

The ICC has also announced that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. On the other hand, Cricket Australia (CA) will host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.

ICC have agreed to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) demands of scheduling ICC events till 2027 in a similar manner.

"It's been agreed in principle by all parties that the 2025 Champions Trophy will be held in the UAE and Pakistan with India playing its matches in Dubai. It's a win-win situation for all stakeholders," the ICC source told PTI a couple of week earlier.

"During the 2026 men's T20 World Cup, Pakistan will play its matches in Sri Lanka. The compensation demanded by PCB for the Champions Trophy hybrid model is still under consideration," the source added.