File photo of Sunil Gavaskar© X (Twitter)
Team India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for ICC Champions Trophy 2025 saw the tournament being converted into a hybrid model, with Rohit Sharma & Co playing their matches in Dubai. Apprehensions over team’s security were the biggest reason cited by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) when the reason behind such a stance was sought. While other international teams have played all of their Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan, questions arose over the validity of India’s claims. However, Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar shut down the chatter, highlighting ‘security lapse’ incidents that took place in Pakistan during the Champions Trophy. (India vs New Zealand)
During the Afghanistan vs England Champions Trophy Group B match, a fan managed to breach security to meet Afghan players. Earlier, even New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra had to face such an incident during the match against Bangladesh.
“Even in this tournament we say that people were able to breach security and run onto the ground while the match was going on. I think it happened during the Afghanistan game. When you see such incidents, it is almost impossible for any government to give the Indian team the permission to travel to Pakistan,” Gavaskar said on Sports Today.
Earlier, during a chat show in Pakistan, Gavaskar was asked about his opinion on the resumption of India vs Pakistan bilateral cricket. He ruled out the possibility of such a series until there’s peace at the Indo-Pak border.
“It’s very simple. If there’s peace at the borders, then I think both governments will certainly say, ‘Look, okay, we’ve had no incidents, nothing at all. So let’s at least start talking’,” Gavaskar had said.
“I’m pretty certain there will be some back-channel connections going on. But you want to see what’s happening both on the ground and off the ground because there are incursions we hear about. That’s the reason why the Indian government is saying, ‘Look, maybe until all that stops, we should not even look at having or talking about anything’,” he had added.
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