File image of Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam.© AFP
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairperson Mohsin Naqvi expressed hope that India will come to the country for the next edition of ICC Champions Trophy, set to take place next year. Mohsin made this statement during an interaction with the press in Lahore. Speaking to the press, Naqvi said, "Indian team mujhe puri umeed hai... Abhi tak koi aisi cheej nahi hai jiski wajeh se vo postpone karey ya cancel karey. Toh sari teams aayengi (I expect Team India to come and play the Champions Trophy. There are no reasons to cancel or postpone. All the teams will come)," Naqvi said.
Pakistan has not hosted any major International Cricket Council (ICC) event since the 1996 ODI World Cup, which it co-hosted with India and Sri Lanka. It was supposed to co-host the 2011 edition of the tournament, but their rights were stripped after a terror attack on a touring Sri Lanka side's bus back in 2009. The tournament was then played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
India has not travelled to Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup, but Pakistan has been to India on three occasions, for a white-ball series in late December 2012 to January 2013, the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup, which was entirely hosted by India.
During the 2023 WC, Pakistan played two matches each in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata and the high-voltage match with arch-rivals India was played at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi stadium on October 14.
Notably, Pakistan is currently playing England in a three-match series, with the first Test at Multan starting from today. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first.
England is in fourth place in ICC World Test Championship standings with eight wins, seven losses and a draw after series wins against West Indies and Sri Lanka.
Pakistan are eighth in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 standings after their series loss to Bangladesh at home.
Teams:
Pakistan (Playing XI): Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood(c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Aamer Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope(c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.
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