Islamabad
\nIndia\u2019s participation in the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan is a \u201cchallenging\u201d issue for the International Cricket Council but the world governing body said it is confident all teams will travel to the country for the tournament.
\nInternational sides have largely steered clear of Pakistan since an attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009 that killed six policemen and two civilians.
\nThe 50-over tournament will be the first ICC event hosted by Pakistan since it shared the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka and last week\u2019s announcement came as a big boost after England and New Zealand pulled out of tours there in September.
\nAsked if the ICC was confident teams would travel to Pakistan, chairman Greg Barclay told reporters on Monday: \u201cFrom what we can see, absolutely.
\n\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have awarded the event if we didn\u2019t think Pakistan was capable of hosting it.
\n\u201cI\u2019m sure, as with all countries, they will put together appropriate security plans to deliver the event. We\u2019re comfortable and confident it will go ahead.\u201d
\nThere were fears the decisions by New Zealand and England would again dampen the prospects of international cricket in Pakistan but Australia confirmed this month they would tour next year for the first time since 1998.
\nThe prospects of India travelling to Pakistan for the first time since the 2008 Asia Cup remain unclear, however.
\nAnurag Thakur, India\u2019s sports minister and former cricket board chief, told reporters last week security was the main concern and that the government would make the call when the time comes.
\nIndia hosted Pakistan in a bilateral series in 2013 but the bitter neighbours rarely meet outside global tournaments these days. Pakistan played in India at the 2011 World Cup as well as the T20 World Cup in 2016.
\n\u201cWe know it\u2019s a challenging issue,\u201d Barclay said. \u201cFrom my point of view, I can\u2019t control geopolitical forces.
\n\u201cI just hope cricket can be a force to help improve relations between countries. One of the great things sports can do is to help bring nations together. If we can do something in a small way to contribute to that, that\u2019s fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad India\u2019s participation in the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan is a \u201cchallenging\u201d issue for the International Cricket Council but the world governing body said it is confident all teams will travel to the country for the tournament. International sides have largely steered clear of Pakistan since an attack on the Sri Lanka team bus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[729,627,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-229209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-champions-trophy","9":"tag-icc","10":"tag-pakistan"},"yoast_head":"\n