'If India doesn’t come...' - Basit Ali gives huge statement on India not traveling to Pakistan to play Champions Trophy 2025

Pakistan's former players are having difficulty digesting that India won't be travelling to Pakistan to play in the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. There are reports surfacing on the Internet about India's denial to travel to the neighbouring country for the Champions Trophy.

This has sparked controversy among netizens and former players. While speaking with GeoNews, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali spoke about the conflict and said that Pakistan should withdraw from the tournament. Even though the statement seems absurd, Ali went on to defend it. 

"We can say that India does not want to play bilateral matches, but you can’t deny the ICC events as you already have signed it. India has to make solid ground. If India doesn’t come, Pakistan will take a big step by not participating in the tournament," said Basit Ali, as quoted by News18. 

India's refusal to travel to Pakistan is due to safety issues that came after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. After that, playing bi-lateral series or Test matches between the two teams stopped. Now, they only play in the ICC tournaments. The clash between two nations keeps on happening and there's no end to it. 

ICC is existing only because there is Pakistan and India: Basit Ali

Former Pakistan player Basit Ali spoke about India and Pakistan and their involvement with the International Cricket Council (ICC). If India doesn't play in the Champions Trophy, the ICC will suffer a huge loss because of revenue generation. This is the main reason, why ICC is keen on getting India to play in the tournament.  

"ICC is existing only because there is Pakistan and India. If the government of Pakistan also says that we won’t play, then the ICC will be of no use as no one will watch the match. This is an ICC event. The cycle has been signed from 2024-2031," added Basit Ali.