India won't travel to Pakistan to play cricket in the next 3 years, ICC confirms

India will be playing their Champions Trophy 2025 matches at a neutral venue, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Thursday. In a statement, the ICC stated that India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at any ICC event from 2024 to 2027 will be played at a neutral venue.

With this, the deadlock over the hosting of Champions Trophy finally ended. However, India are most likely to play their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai, the schedule of which is yet to be officially announced by the ICC.

Although neutral venue for India's matches are yet to be announced, the Champions Trophy 2025 wikipedia page has already mentioned United Arab Emirates (UAE) as co-hosts. Alongside the three venues in Pakistan - Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore - Dubai has also been mentioned in the wikipedia page as the venue in UAE.

"The ICC Board has approved that all matches between India and Pakistan played at ICC Events during the current rights cycle from 2024 to 2027 (which are to be hosted in India or Pakistan) will be played at a neutral venue proposed by the tournament host," the ICC said.

Besides the Champions Trophy 2025, the development applies to next year's women's Cricket World Cup in India and the T20 World Cup in 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. The decision comes in after India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy over security concerns.

The ICC also announced that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been awarded the hosting rights for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028. The neutral venue arrangements will also apply here, according to ICC.

The Champions Trophy 2025 will see eight teams - Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan - competing from February 19 to March 9.