The International Cricket Council (ICC ) has allocated the hosting rights of forthcoming Champions Trophy 2025 to Pakistan. Pakistan is all determined to organise the event in a befitting manner by all means and against all odds.

Hosting an event like the Champions Trophy in this part of the world is not easy, particularly keeping in view the security of the participants whether players, officials, spectators or anyone else involved in the game in any capacity.

So providing foolproof security to the participants of this prestigious event will be the first and foremost priority of the cricket establishment whatever it costs.

PCB in its recent meeting budgeted a huge amount for the security of participants of the Champions Trophy and this security budget was later put before the relevant board during a recent ICC meeting in Sri Lanka.

Whenever Pakistan is allotted such an event by any of cricket’s governing bodies India’s approach always remains negative. The last Asia Cup, jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, is a recent example.

Pakistan has always cooperated with India, so they should also cooperate in return. During the last cricket World Cup, held in India, Pakistan extended all cooperation and support to India. This was ample proof that Pakistan is keen to see the projection of the game of gentleman in the region and in the subcontinent in particular.

The Pakistan Cricket Board the other day also requested the ICC to convince India to cooperate with Pakistan and send its team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy.

Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi, who also happens to be the Federal Interior Minister, is keen to see the coming Champions Trophy, being staged at the three centres of the country, organised in a befitting way with no flaw anywhere in

the organisation.

In the recent past PCB provided foolproof security to the leading cricket teams of the world when they visited Pakistan.

Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore will be providing the best facilities to the participants in all aspects.

While National Stadium Karachi and Pindi Stadium Rawalpindi are being renovated, Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium will have a new look for this top-class cricket contest.

As the much-talked about Champions Trophy is drawing nearer, PCB is preparing sporting pitches for this eight-team tournament.

These pitches for Champions Trophy will be prepared under the supervision of new PCB head curator Tony Hemming from Australia. Hemming has almost forty years’ experience of preparing pitches.

The PCB is optimistic that lively pitches will be ready by the time the Champions Trophy gets underway.

Those at the helm of affairs have started planning to raise a balanced Pakistan squad for the Champions Trophy keeping in view the Greenshits’ debacle in the last T20 World Cup in the USA.

Those who now have a say in selection matters think Pakistan cricketers lacked professional approach during the last T20 World Cup when they lost to even debutants USA in the initial round.

As such they now want to raise a competitive side, not lacking professionalism, for the Champions Trophy. Moreover, fitness of the players and captaincy issue may also come under discussion while picking an outfit for the event.

Fitness of players and Babar Azam’s captaincy, it may be recalled, raised many a question during the T20 World Cup.

There are also indications that Pakistan may convey to ICC that in case India refuses to send its team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, Pakistan will not play its fixtures in India during the 2026 T20 World Cup to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

The teams having qualified for the forthcoming Champions Trophy are India, Pakistan (hosts), Bangladesh, New Zealand, Afghanistan, South Africa, Australia and England.

The eight teams will be distributed into two groups of four teams. In the group stage, each team will play against the other teams in their group in a single round-robin format. Then the top two teams from each group will play the semi-finals.