The newly appointed ICC Chairman Jay Shah has received a request from Pakistan legend Younis Khan on India’s participation in the Champions Trophy 2025.
The ICC Champions Trophy is all set to go take place in Pakistan next year. Around 8 teams are set to take part in the ICC tournament. With the International Cricket Council confirming the schedule for the event, there is still no clarity on whether India will be traveling to Pakistan for this competition.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah is set to take over as the ICC chairman and he will be taking charge in his role on December 01. On this occasion, the Pakistan legend Younis Khan made a special request to Shah.
Younis has played 118 Tests and 265 ODIs and has urged Shah to show spirit and send the Indian team to Pakistan.
“The cricket should uplift with the appointment of Jay Shah as the ICC chief. Jay Shah needs to show the sportsman spirit, as with the good initiatives of the ICC chief, India can come to Pakistan to play cricket. In the same way, Pakistan can visit India,” said former skipper Younis Khan.
Meanwhile, Australian head coach John Buchanan also urged Shah to take some bold decisions to preserve the longer formats of the game.
Buchanan said Shah will have to address the concerns over the growing number of T20 leagues.
“It’s an interesting question. With Jay Shah now being installed at the head of the ICC, it really is important that the ICC makes some very, very good long-term decisions for the game,” Buchanan said.
“Test cricket is really important. We’ve got the proliferation of the short-format game. We need to keep the transition game, which is the one-day game,” he said.
“It’s too difficult for players to be able to play quality cricket with only two formats, meaning a short format and a long format. We need that intervening, that transition format of 50-over cricket.
Notably, the Champions Trophy tournament is set to return after a short break. The last tournament was played back in 2017 where Pakistan secured their title after defeating India in the finals at The Oval.
India conceded 338/4 in 50 overs with Fakhar Zaman smashing a century for Pakistan. Mohammad Amir removed the Indian top order and helped the side to win the match by 180 runs.
