Champions Trophy 2025: BCCI's Rajeev Shukla Rubbishes Report of India Not Travelling to Pakistan For Tournament

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BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla has quashed rumours of Indian cricket team not travelling to Pakistan to participate in the Champions Trophy 2025, saying the board has not released any official information regarding the matter.

Earlier, a report from ANI stated the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and will ask the International Cricket Council to hold its matches in Sri Lanka or Dubai.

Although there is still no guarantee on India's travel to their neighbouring country, Shukla rubbished those claims and questioned the credibility of the source providing such information.

"We do not know which source gave such information. BCCI has not put out any official information regarding this," Shukla told ThePrint over the phone.

As per the provisional schedule, India is set to play all their matches in Lahore, including the group stage contest against Pakistan. Even the semi-final will be played in Lahore should the Men in Blue qualify for the last four.

BCCI, however, is yet to confirm their travel to Pakistan, leading to speculation that the tournament could be staged in hybrid mode with India's matches set to be played in a neutral venue like in 2023 Asia Cup, when Rohit Sharma's side played their matches in Sri Lanka.

India has not travelled to Pakistan since 2008 and the last bilateral series between the two countries was in 2013. Since then, matches between the two teams have been limited to International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments and the Asia Cup.

Earlier, Shukla had said the final decision will be left to the Indian government on whether the team travels to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which is set to be held from February to March 2025.

"In the case of the Champions Trophy, we will do whatever the Government of India tells us to do. We will send our team only when the Government of India permits. So we will go according to the decision of the Indian government," Shukla had said earlier.