Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja expressed his excitement after the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded the hosting rights of the 2025 Champions Trophy to Pakistan.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja expressed his excitement after the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded the hosting rights of the 2025 Champions Trophy to Pakistan. The sub-continent nation has not been hosting many international bilateral series in the country after the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked by terrorists in Lahore back in 2009. They last hosted an ICC event in 1996 — 50-over World Cup — alongside India and Sri Lanka.
PCB on Tuesday announced that Pakistan, who are the defending champions of Champions Trophy, will host the tournament across three venues in February 2025.
“I am pleased no-end with the ICC’s decision to select Pakistan as a host nation for one of their elite tournaments. By allocating a major global event to Pakistan, the ICC has expressed complete confidence and faith in our management and operational capabilities and skills,” Ramiz said in a statement released by PCB.
“We have continued to demonstrate how a great host we are and through the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, we will again showcase our passion and love for the sport as this event will be a boon to the millions of home fans, who will see world class teams and their favourite international players from close quarters.
“We not only endeavour to plan and deliver a world-class event, we will also prepare and field a strong and formidable side that can perform and entertain our home fans,” he added
“We saw during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign how the nation got united and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at home will be another opportunity to further strengthen that bond as we defend the title,” he concluded.
ICC’s announcement comes as a major boost for Pakistan who are trying to bring back international cricket to the cricket-crazy Asian nation.
Earlier, PCB officials were left frustrated after England and New Zealand decided to pull-out of their respective tours, citing security concerns.
However, PCB and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that the ‘Three Lions’ will tour Pakistan and play 7 T20Is in 2022.
Australia, who won the T20 World Cup last week, will also tour Pakistan to play three Tests, as many ODIs and a single T20I.