The histrionic build-up sees the Champions Trophy starting from Wednesday with calls for England to boycott against Afghanistan, and the tournament being divided between Pakistan and Dubai. The second important event, after the World Cup of one-day cricket, will happen until March 9, being Pakistan’s first global cricket tournament after nearly three decades. However, India will play all its matches in the UAE due to the cricketing power’s refusal to visit its neighbor for a long-standing diplomatic situation.
A month-long deadlock ended in December when the International Cricket Council announced that India would play its games in Dubai.
Their chances of playing in the latter before finally concluding will rise if India reaches the final– which is likely to be the case since they are tipped as favorites to win the trophy.
India and Pakistan cross paths in Dubai on the group’s opening match, on February 23. Because of political circumstances, that is the only time they face each other.
England will face Afghanistan on February 26 in Lahore, causing a storm of protest in some parts of Britain against the match being played.
Over 160 British politicians issued a joint call for a boycott of the Afghanistan match in protest of the Taliban government’s prohibitions on women’s participation in sports.
Richard Thompson, chair of the England Cricket Board, has promised that England’s match will proceed, arguing that “coordinated international action” by the cricketing fraternity will achieve much more than unilateral action.
The Champions Trophy will be Pakistan’s first ICC event since the co-hosting of the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.
Other cities that will host games in Pakistan will be Karachi and Rawalpindi.
Pakistan became a no-go area for foreign teams after the visiting Sri Lankan squad were attacked by gunmen in 2009, leaving eight people dead and wounding several touring players.
But with improved security across most of the country, international cricket returned to Pakistan in 2020.
