"I don’t see them cancel or postpone coming here"- PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi confident about India playing 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi expressed confidence that India would travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi have been marked as the venues for the second biggest ODI event set to be played from February 19 to March 9.

The Men in Blue last played in Pakistan during the 2008 Asia Cup and their last full tour of the country came way back in 2006.

While there have been questions raised about the upcoming Champions Trophy possibly played in a hybrid model with India's matches held outside Pakistan, Naqvi expressed no such concern.

Talking to reporters in Lahore, he said as quoted by the Indian Express:

"The Indian team should come. I don’t see them cancel or postpone coming here and we are confident we will host all the teams in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. The stadiums will also be ready to host the matches on schedule and any remaining work would be completed after the tournament."

The 2023 Asia Cup was scheduled to be played in Pakistan before moving to a hybrid model with Team India playing their matches in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the Champions Trophy was last played in 2017 with Pakistan emerging victorious with a commanding win over India in the grand finale.

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What happened the last time India's men's team played an international match in Pakistan?

India and the Men in Green last played in Pakistan in the Super Four stage of the ODI Asia Cup in 2008. In front of a packed Karachi Stadium, India won the toss and batted first.

Led by skipper MS Dhoni's 76 and a young Rohit Sharma's 58, the Men in Blue posted a formidable 308/7 in 50 overs. However, the hosts went largely untroubled in their run-chase, completing the task in the 46th over, thanks to a brilliant 123* by Younis Khan and a 70* by skipper Misbah-ul-Haq.

Yet, Pakistan still just missed out on qualification to the final with India and Sri Lanka finishing as the top two teams of the Super Fours.

The Lankans produced a sparkling all-round effort to defeat India by 100 runs in the summit clash to lift the Asia Cup trophy in that edition.