(File) Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma
It will be the second instance of India departing from the tradition of ICC tournaments—the first being skipper Rohit Sharma’s likely absence from the opening ceremony
Controversy around India’s campaign in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 refuses to die down, with the latest being over Team India’s jersey for the tournament.
In a departure from tradition, the Indian team would not be sporting the host country’s name—Pakistan—on their team jersey for the Champions Trophy, said an IANS report. All the teams participating in ICC tournaments sport the name of the host country.
Accusing the BCCI of mixing cricket with politics, a PCB official was quoted by News18 as saying that it is not good for the game. “They (India) refused to travel to Pakistan. They don’t want to send their captain (to Pakistan) for the opening ceremony, and now there are reports that they don’t want the host nation’s (Pakistan) name printed on their jersey. We believe that the world governing body (ICC) will not let this happen and support Pakistan.”
The latest development comes amid reports that India skipper Rohit Sharma may not travel to Pakistan for the opening ceremony, which is likely to be held on February 16 or 17. The tournament is slated to begin on February 19. The BCCI is yet to comment on both the issues.
The Indian cricket board and the PCB have been at loggerheads ever since Team India refused to travel to Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy, which is making a return after eight years, because of safety concerns. Following the BCCI’s stand, the ICC brought in the hybrid model in which India will play all their games in Dubai while the rest of the matches of other teams will be played in Pakistan itself.
India will kick off their campaign on February 20 with a match against Bangladesh, followed by the much-anticipated clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 23.
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana (Only for England series).
