Champions Trophy 2025: Political unrest and Sri Lanka A's withdrawal strengthen BCCI's case

While the impasse over Champions Trophy 2025 continues, the news of the Sri Lanka A team leaving Pakistan midway through their ongoing series has come as a big blow for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The Sri Lanka A have been forced to leave due to the political protests in Islamabad and will not be playing their last two 50-over matches against Pakistan Shaheens.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board, in consultation with Sri Lanka Cricket, has postponed the last two 50-over matches of the Pakistan Shaheens-Sri Lanka ‘A’ series due to a political activity in the federal capital,” the PCB said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Pakistan Cricket Board also confirmed that the last two matches of the series, which were scheduled for Wednesday and Friday at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, will now be played at a later date.

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The incident, however, is set to give more firepower to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as they are currently engaged in a tussle with PCB over the schedule for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. The BCCI has already informed the International Cricket Council (ICC) that they will not send Team India to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy due to security issues and want to play their matches at a neutral venue.

Protest in Pakistan to work in BCCI’s favour

A similar arrangement was made during the Asia Cup 2023 when Pakistan were the hosts but now the PCB is not willing to relent and accept a Hybrid Model and is insisting on playing the India vs Pakistan match in Pakistan. An emergency ICC board meeting is reportedly scheduled to take place on 29 November (Friday) virtually to take a final call on the stand-off.

The PCB is expected to once again vehemently push its case of hosting the entire Champions Trophy 2025 in the country but Sri Lanka A leaving Pakistan due to political unrest only strengthens BCCI’s stand and would make it easy for other board members also to vote in favour of India.

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According to a report, ICC board members will vote during the meeting to decide the fate of the 2025 Champions Trophy. Despite BCCI’s financial clout, the current scenario appears unfavorable for Pakistan, making Team India’s absence from the tournament the most likely outcome for now.

What is behind protests in Pakistan?

The recent protests in Islamabad have been led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party of the former Pakistan captain and prime minister Imran Khan. They have been marching towards Islamabad since Sunday and the protests have witnessed clashes and violence as protestors have clashed with security officials.

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PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the federal interior minister, has already announced that the army has been called in to control the unrest.