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The PCB has canceled the Captains’ Day event for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy due to tight schedules. India will play their matches in the UAE. The tournament runs from February 19 to March 9.
India captain Rohit Sharma during a toss against Pakistan (PTI)
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reportedly canceled the customary Captains’ Day event for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. This means that, after months of speculations, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won’t have to travel to Pakistan despite India playing their matches in the UAE due to security concerns.
For the past many ICC events, the world body has made sure to reserve a day for the captains’ joint photo shoot and press conference. This time, the PCB has cited the ‘unavailability of teams due to tight traveling schedules’ as the reason behind the cancelation.
“The thing is all teams have tight schedules before the tournament. England and India are playing a white-ball series while Australia is playing a Test and ODI series in Sri Lanka,” news agency PTI cited a source as saying.
“We have also decided in conjunction with the ICC that there will be no official collective press conference of all captains as not all will be available before the tournament nor any official photo shoot at one place,” the source added.
The report added that there won’t be an official opening ceremony either and instead, the board will organize an inauguration event for the tournament on February 16 at the Huzoor Bagh in Lahore.
“On 16th Feb we will have the inauguration ceremony,” the source added.
The tournament will be played between February 19 and March 9. It will be held across three venues in Pakistan and one in Dubai. India will play all their matches at the latter after the ICC, the PCB and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreed to a hybrid model for the tournament.
If India will qualify for the final, that’ll be held in Dubai, too.
Meanwhile, according to the report, the PCB will officially open the newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium on February 7. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been invited as the chief guest for the event.
Four days later, on February 11, the PCB will also launch the National Stadium in Karachi, which has also been renovated recently. President Asif Ali Zardari has been invited as the chief guest for that ceremony.
