ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Pakistan’s Pride Shattered as Champions Trophy Adopts Hybrid Model, India's Matches to be Held in This City

New Delhi: The tournament schedule is still pending release as the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting scheduled for Thursday (5 December) has been postponed. The meeting will now take place on 7 December.

But meanwhile, big news has come out regarding the schedule of the Champions Trophy. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has now agreed to the hybrid model. In such a situation, the Indian team will now play its matches in another country.

5 out of 15 matches will be held outside Pakistan:
If the report is to be believed, ICC has prepared a plan to schedule all the matches of the Indian team including the final in UAE. A total of 15 matches including the final are to be held under the Champions Trophy. Out of these, a plan has been made to hold the title match, both knockout matches and all the group stage matches of the Indian team in the UAE. Now only the official announcement regarding the schedule is pending.

“All parties have agreed in principle that the 2025 Champions Trophy will be held in the UAE and Pakistan while India will play its matches in Dubai. It is a win-win situation for all stakeholders,” an ICC source told PTI.

The final match may be held in Lahore:
If the Indian team does not reach the final, then the final match can be held in Lahore. Lahore has been kept as a backup (for the final). If the Indian team reaches the final, then this title match can be held in Dubai.

The hybrid model will be there in ICC tournaments by 2027:
Pakistan withdrew its boycott threat in the last ICC meeting last week and agreed to the hybrid model and demanded a similar arrangement for itself by 2031. However, the ICC has agreed to the hybrid model for all its competitions till 2027. During this period, India will host the Women’s ODI World Cup in October next year and the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup jointly with Sri Lanka. Even if the hybrid model is not implemented, Pakistan would not be forced to travel to India in 2026.

Demand for tri-series between India and Pakistan:
The Pakistan Cricket Board had put forward some demands in exchange for accepting the hybrid model, but none of them were accepted. One of the demands was that there should be a tri-series between India and Pakistan at a neutral venue. The third country could be anyone. However the ICC and BCCI did not accept it.

The meeting was held for a few minutes on Thursday:
Let us tell you that the important meeting of ICC lasted for a short time on 5 December. During the meeting, the tournament was discussed for a few minutes. During this time, ICC members felt that the tournament schedule was constantly being postponed. The matter was not moving forward. In such a situation, they gave a final warning to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The ICC said in clear words that Pakistan has no option other than accepting the hybrid model. That is, the PCB had only one option left, that is the hybrid model. However, the PCB has agreed to this. In such a situation, a formal meeting will be held on December 7, after which the schedule and other things can be announced.