While the window for the eight-team ODI tournament has been penciled in between February 19 and March, the ICC has also not formally announced the dates or a schedule. Normally, for a global tournament, the ICC has already announced the schedule 100 days before the event.
The reason for the delay is the Indian government’s refusal to grant permission to Rohit Sharma’s team to travel to Pakistan. This decision was communicated to the ICC two weeks ago. The PCB, which was awarded the hosting rights for the Champions Trophy in 2021, subsequently wrote to the ICC asking several questions about the exact reasons the BCCI had given and when it informed the ICC. According to a PCB official, so far they have not received a response from the ICC.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi remained firm on hosting the entire tournament in Pakistan at three locations: Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi. Last week he said he would be open to dialogue with the BCCI to break the impasse. An ICC spokesperson confirmed Friday’s meeting, but the PCB has not commented so far.
The ICC Council is made up of representatives from the 12 full member countries, three member representatives, an independent director along with the ICC President and CEO. The meeting comes just at the end of the term of current ICC president Greg Barclay. This will be the last meeting of the board he chairs before, on Sunday (December 1), he is replaced by Jay Shah, BCCI secretary and key figure in the Champions Trophy issue.
Naqvi, the PCB chairman, is also a key figure in Pakistan’s government, as its interior minister. In recent days, he has been preoccupied in Islamabad in an effort to suppress political protests by the PTI, the party of former prime minister (and captain) Imran Khan.
Additional reporting by Osman Samiuddin
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