In the wake of the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, South Kashmir, where 26 civilians were killed on Tuesday, reports indicate that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has approached the International Cricket Council (ICC) requesting them of not putting India and Pakistan in the same group during ICC tournaments. As per a report by Cricbuzz, the BCCI has shown reluctance with India playing against Pakistan during the group phases of future global events.
“The general impression is that any final decision will hinge on the escalation or de-escalation of prevailing tensions between India and Pakistan,” the report added.
Women’s ODI World Cup Approaching Soon
The next big ICC event is the Women’s ODI World Cup, which takes place in September in India. Pakistan has also qualified for the tournament, which is played as a round-robin, implying that all the teams play every other team. Earlier, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla had made it clear that the board would follow the Indian government’s diktat while dealing with Pakistan. In an interesting twist, a top BCCI official informed Cricbuzz that he was not aware of any such correspondence with the ICC, raising a question mark over the report.
Asia Cup Still Remains Undecided
In regards of men’s cricket, the next big ICC event is the 2026 T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. BCCI, however, has a more pressing concern in the near future the Asia Cup, scheduled for September as well. While Cricbuzz had previously indicated that the Asia Cup would be played completely at a neutral venue with Dubai and Sri Lanka in contention no decision has been made as yet. India and Pakistan fought twice in the 2023 edition but one of the matches was rained off. India finally won the trophy after beating Sri Lanka in the final.
“The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has sold the media rights for the Asia Cup – valued at $170 million for four editions – based on an unofficial understanding that each edition will feature at least two India-Pakistan matches, with the possibility of a third if the teams meet in the final. The media rights deal is middle-heavy than front-or back-loaded, which means the 2025 edition would cost around $ 38 million, instead of the average value of $ 42.5 million.”
