Pakistan picks Dubai as ICC Champions Trophy neutral venue for India games | Cricket News

The venue change follows weeks of wrangling after India refused to visit ICC tournament hosts Pakistan for their matches.

India will play their Champions Trophy matches in the United Arab Emirates next year after hosts Pakistan selected the Gulf country as a neutral venue for their rivals, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has said.

Due to soured political relations, the Indian team has not visited Pakistan since 2008 and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided not to send its team to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy citing government advice.

The two countries play each other only at multi-team tournaments, with Pakistan visiting India for the 50-over ICC World Cup last year.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board has chosen the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the neutral venue,” PCB spokesperson Amir Mir said via email on Sunday.

The eight-team Champions Trophy will be held in February and March next year.

The International Cricket Council said last week that matches between India and Pakistan in tournaments that it organised in either nation would be played at neutral venues.

The arrangement applies to the men’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the women’s one-day international (ODI) World Cup in India next year.

It will also be in place for the men’s Twenty20 World Cup in 2026, which India will co-host with Sri Lanka and the women’s T20 World Cup in 2028 in Pakistan.

The Champions Trophy will be the first ICC event hosted by Pakistan since it shared the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.