Islamabad: With the entailing event of ICC champions trophy 2025 Pakistan is all geared up to present the championships. However controversy began when PCB launched its trophies tour in which they had plans to take their trophies to some areas deemed sensitive within the Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK). That action caused much outrage as the ICC stepped in to alter the schedule.
PCB’s First Plan Proposes Controversy
The PCB had initially laid down a hectic itinerary for the Champions Trophy tour, where the trophy was to be taken around to many places to get the fans involved. These included Skardu, Hunza and Muzaffarabad all of which are located in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. This move raised a lot of protests especially from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Some sources state that BCCI secretary Jay Shah is stated of having opposed the PCB decision to include PoK cities in vehement terms claiming it inflamed. After these objections the ICC intervened and instructed the PCB to have all the PoK locations stripped off the tour.
ICC Releases New Trophy Tour Schedule
When animals were controversial, the ICC released a new schedule that made it clear that no disputed area would be involved. According to the updated itinerary, the Champions Trophy tour will cover the following cities in Pakistan:
16 November: Islamabad
17 November: Taxila and Khanpur
18 November: Abbottabad
19 November: Murree
20 November: Nathia Gali
22–25 November: Karachi
The trophy will afterwards tour the seven other participating countries, including India where ‘The Ashes’ will be from 15 th January to 26th January 2025. It will then proceed to Pakistan – the host nation of the tournament.
India’s Participation During Political Struggles
The defiance of the political relations between the two countries is especially worthy of mention: namely, India is included in the list of countries where the trophy became a tourist attraction. Despite the cricket being a bond of union however the PoK issue shows that organising global games is not without risks when it is set in politically unstable area.
Thanks to the ICC, the Champions Trophy tour will move on without such situations and will aim to bring the fans of the beautiful game together all over the world. Even as preparations go on every one waits for Pakistan and why not, for the host thinks it can host a successful event while simultaneously wading through the political aspects of a sensitive situation like cricket.