New Delhi:
There has been news about Indian captain Rohit Sharma that he will not go to Pakistan to participate in the opening ceremony of Champions Trophy 2025. And these news have made the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) very angry. The mega event will be organized in Pakistan and Dubai in February-March. It was expected that Rohit Sharma would participate in the traditional photoshoot and pre-event press conference of captains to be held in Pakistan. Let us tell you that India will play all its Champions Trophy matches in Dubai. This also includes the big match against Pakistan on 23 February. However, BCCI has neither confirmed nor rejected the news of sending Rohit to Pakistan. But there is another big reason for PCB’s displeasure.

ICC should not let this happen: PCB

The Pakistan Board official has also expressed displeasure that the Indian team is considering not printing the name of Pakistan on its jersey. A PCB official, on condition of anonymity, said, “BCCI is bringing politics into cricket, which is not good for the game at all. First they refused to travel to Pakistan, then now they are not sending the captain to the opening ceremony. And now reports are coming that they do not want the name of the host country on the jersey. Hopefully ICC will not allow this to happen and will support Pakistan.”

On Saturday, India had announced its 15-member squad for this eight-team tournament. Rohit Sharma has been made the captain and Shubman Gill as the vice-captain, while Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal are also included in the team.

In the last Champions Trophy, India had reached the final, but lost to Pakistan. This time India will play its first match against Bangladesh on 20 February in Dubai and will take the field against Pakistan on 23 February. India’s last match of the group stage will be against New Zealand on March 2.