According to the draft schedule, all of India's matches, including the possible semi-finals and finals, are scheduled in Lahore. India vs Pakistan match will be played on March 1.

Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has entrusted the International Cricket Council (ICC) with convincing the BCCI to send its team to Pakistan for the upcoming Champions Trophy to be held in the first quarter of next year. According to a PCB source, the budget for the Champions Trophy was approved at the recent ICC meeting in Colombo, but the schedule and format did not come up for discussion.

“PCB has now done what was required to host the Champions Trophy. He has presented the program schedule and format and also presented the program budget,” said a PCB insider. “Now it is up to the ICC how quickly they circulate, discuss and finalize the Champions Trophy schedule. The PCB has suggested holding all India matches including the semi-finals (if India qualifies) and finals in Lahore to accommodate the draft schedule,” he said.

Another source said that the PCB has already submitted all the details in the document of interest to the ICC to host the Champions Trophy. “The PCB on its part has informed the ICC about the tax regime, venue selection and approval from their government for this mega event to be held in Pakistan,” he added.

The PCB had initially expressed interest in hosting the event in 2021 during Ehsan Mani's tenure as chairman. The ICC awarded the hosting rights in 2022 and later with Ramiz Raja as the PCB chairman, the board submitted the final documents for the hosting agreement to be signed with the ICC.

The source revealed that PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi did not have any formal meeting with BCCI secretary, Jai Shah or any other BCCI officials during the ICC meeting but the exchange between Naqvi and Shah during the meeting was cordial.

The PCB has now left it to the ICC to finalize and announce the tournament schedule and confirm whether the Indian team will travel to Pakistan or not. The ICC has kept a supplementary expenditure in its tournament budget to cover any eventuality where the Indian team has to play matches outside Pakistan.

The BCCI has always maintained that playing cricket in Pakistan is purely a government call and the 2023 ODI Asia Cup, hosted by the PCB, saw India play all games in Sri Lanka based on a 'hybrid model'. According to the draft schedule, all of India's matches, including the possible semi-finals and finals, are scheduled in Lahore. India vs Pakistan match will be played on March 1.