Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi. (PCB/Twitter)
The Global Trophy Tour for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy kicks off in Islamabad on Saturday, as cities in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) found no mention in the schedule unveiled by the ICC. The world body moved in swiftly to have them dropped from the host country’s itinerary following India’s objection to PoK locations being part of the earlier schedule.
It was reported on Friday that PCB is learnt to have agreed to restrict the tour to a few major cities after the Board of Control for Cricket in India had filed an objection with ICC over the move to include PoK in the tour itinerary. The Trophy Tour will now comprise Karachi, Rawalpindi and Islamabad, apart from Abbottabad in the Khyber Pakhtunwala Region.
“BCCI secretary (Jay) Shah has objected to the PCB’s idea to hold a Champions Trophy tour in PoK. The BCCI has no problem if the tour is conducted in any other city of Pakistan or even in a stadium outside PoK or in a mall. But they cannot hold it in PoK,” a BCCI official told The Indian Express on Friday.
After Islamabad, the tour moves to Taxila and Khanpur (November 17), Abbottabad (November 18), Murree (November 19) and Nathia Gali (November 20) before concluding the Pakistan leg in Karachi (November 22-25). The original tour schedule included cities like Skardu, Hunza and Muzaffarabad, which fall in the PoK region, a disputed territory between India and Pakistan.
The landmarks where the trophy will be displayed on the opening day of its tour in Islamabad are Daman-e-Koh, Faisal Mosque, and the Pakistan Monument where it will be accompanied by Shoaib Akhtar.
Pakistan are the defending champions of the event, having won the title at The Oval in London in 2017, defeating India in the final.
As for this edition, India has reportedly denied travelling to Pakistan for the tournament, and the ICC is working with PCB to find a possible solution to it, including hosting it in a hybrid model or shifting the competition out of Pakistan, possibly the United Arab Emirates (UAE) or South Africa.
Full list of venues of the Trophy Tour:
16 November – Islamabad, Pakistan
17 November – Taxila and Khanpur, Pakistan
18 November – Abbottabad, Pakistan
19 November- Murree, Pakistan
20 November- Nathia Gali, Pakistan
22 – 25 November – Karachi, Pakistan
26 – 28 November – Afghanistan
10 – 13 December – Bangladesh
15 – 22 December – South Africa
25 December – 5 January – Australia
6 – 11 January – New Zealand
12 – 14 January – England
15 – 26 January – India
27 January – event starts in Pakistan
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