 "Champions Trophy 2025: PCB's planned opening ceremony, captains' photo shoot called off, says report")
Less than a month remains for the ICC Champions Trophy to return to action after a gap of nearly eight years, with defending champions Pakistan set to host the event across four venues – three at home and one in the United Arab Emirates. The build-up to ninth edition of the ‘Mini World Cup’, however, has been far from ideal for the International Cricket Council (ICC) as well as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with renovation work at the Pakistani venues, especially Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium and Karachi's National Stadium yet to be completed due to delays.
Also Read | Stadium mess in Pakistan forced ICC CEO to resign, says report
In what is a massive setback for the under-fire PCB, the upcoming tournament that will be hosted between 19 February and 9 March will not have an opening ceremony. According to Geo Super, the delayed arrival of the English and Australian teams has led to the cancellation of the opening ceremony, which the Mohsin Naqvi-led PCB had planned to host two-three days before the opening match.
England currently are playing a five-match T20I series in India that will be followed by a three-match ODI series, which concludes on 12 February. Jos Buttler’s men have opted for a break after the tour of India and will arrive in Pakistan on 18 February, a day before Pakistan face former champions New Zealand in the tournament opener in Karachi.
Also Read | Pakistan limits journalists' entry to stadiums to control negative publicity, says report
Australia are currently a two-Test series in Sri Lanka that will be followed by as many ODIs against the same team, will arrive a day after England.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBesides the opening ceremony, the official photo shoot of the captains of the eight participating teams has also been cancelled as per the report. There were doubts over Rohit Sharma traveling to Pakistan for the first time since 2008 due to the BCCI’s reluctance to send Indian cricketers to their neighbouring country, which had resulted in the Men in Blue’s matches being shifted to Dubai in the first place.
The PCB, however, remains hopeful of hosting a special event before Match 1 of the tournament on 19 February.
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