Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally relented and has agreed to allow the Indian cricket team’s jersey for the Champions Trophy 2025 to sport Pakistan’s name as the host.
Sources from Pakistan informed IANS a few days ago that the BCCI has refused to allow the national men’s team to use Pakistan’s name on the official kit for the Champions Trophy 2025.
But now, the BCCI has finally decided that the team will sport Pakistan’s name on the jersey.
“We will follow whatever are the ICC guidelines,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told Cricbuzz. When pointed out that the official ICC logo has Pakistan beneath it, Saikia reiterated stating, “We will follow the ICC directive.”
Saikia’s assertion puts to rest the uproar over India filing an objection to the official logo since the team will not be travelling to Pakistan. Pakistan are the designated hosts of the Champions Trophy which will be played from February 19 to March 9, the cricbuzz report said.
India will play their matches in Dubai after the PCB accepted a proposal to host the event on a hybrid model after the Indian government refused to allow the national team to travel to Pakistan.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) also played a role in persuading BCCI to have Pakistan’s name on the kit, pointing to their rules that stipulate that all teams have to use the name of the hosts on their jerseys.
As per the ICC’s Members Participation Agreement, all teams have to use the name of the hosts on their jerseys. As per the rules, all teams have to send the kit to the ICC for approval of the logos and other specifications. If a team is not using the official logo it is reminded of its obligations.
The participating teams in the Champions Trophy in 2017 had England and Wales on their jerseys, and not just England. The Pakistan players wore the World Cup 2023 shirts with the event logo that mentioned India.
The Pakistan team wore jerseys portraying India’s name as the hosts during the 2021 T20 World Cup, even though the event was held in the UAE due to the COVID situation in India.
However, this argument by the BCCI to have the name of the country where the team plays its matches is a recent one after they refused to mention Pakistan’s name for the 2024 Asia Cup, which was also hosted on a hybrid model with India playing their matches in Sri Lanka.
At that time tournament, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) which organised the event, had clarified that the policy had been changed and there was no need to carry the host country’s name. The ACC then had India’s Jay Shah as its President. Though Jay Shah is the ICC Chair now, the global body has decided to stick to its rules.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has not clarified whether India skipper Rohit Sharma will be travelling to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy’s opening ceremony.
“The BCCI secretary is yet to come out with the Board’s position on whether Rohit Sharma will visit Pakistan for the opening ceremony, which is expected to be held in Karachi, which will host the inaugural game on February 19,” the report said.
India and Pakistan only play each other in multi-national events and have not had a bilateral series since 2012. The last bilateral Test series between the two nations was in 2007 when Pakistan visited India. India last toured Pakistan for a Test series in 2006 and two years later featured in the Asia Cup hosted in Pakistan.
Pakistan last visited India in 2023 for the 50 overs World Cup and played the archrivals in Ahmedabad.
(IANS)
