Champions Trophy 2025: PCB criticises BCCI for allegedly blocking Rohit's visit to Pakistan, says report

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been accused of mixing politics and cricket by a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official after reports emerged that the Indian cricket board was not planning to send captain Rohit Sharma across the border for the Champions Trophy 2025 opening ceremony.

The captains of all eight teams participating in the Champions Trophy 2025, including India skipper Rohit, are expected to assemble in Pakistan for the opening ceremony on either 16 or 17 February. The tournament starts on 19 February, with Pakistan playing against New Zealand in Karachi.

Will Rohit travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy 2025 opening ceremony?

Besides taking part in the opening ceremony in Pakistan, Rohit is also expected to take part in the captains’ photo shoot and a pre-event press conference.

However, there’s a lack of clarity from India’s side on whether Rohit will travel to Pakistan. The alarm bells started ringing after BCCI’s newly-elected secretary Devajit Saikia said that no proposal for Rohit travelling to Pakistan had been made by PCB.

“We haven’t got any such proposal. This hasn’t been part of our discussions with the ICC,” Saikia told The Telegraph newspaper.

Meanwhile, sources have communicated to the news agency PTI that PCB has already informed ICC that the opening ceremony will take place only in Pakistan.

‘BCCI is bringing politics into cricket’

A PCB official has now slammed the BCCI for trying to block Rohit’s travel to Pakistan. The administrator also hoped the International Cricket Council (ICC) would rule in PCB’s favour if things come to that.

“BCCI is bringing politics into cricket, which is not at all good for the game. They refused to travel to Pakistan. They don’t want to send their captain (to Pakistan) for the opening ceremony, now there are reports that they don’t want the host nation’s (Pakistan) name printed on their jersey. We believe that the world governing body (ICC) will not let this happen and support Pakistan," a PCB official told news agency IANS on Monday.

India’s matches in Champions Trophy 2025 will be taking place in Dubai as the BCCI refused to send its team to the neighbouring nation, forcing ICC to settle for a hybrid model for all ICC events till 2026 .

India’s first Champions Trophy 2025 match is against Bangladesh on 20 February and they take on Pakistan on 23 February.