With the Champions Trophy is finally starting from February 2025. After much delay due to the confusions around hybrid model, the tournament’s is released with matches to take place in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Dubai. With Rawalpindi scheduled to host some of the important matches like Australia vs South Africa, South Africa vs England, Australia vs Afghanistan and Pakistan vs Bangladesh, fans and critics are curious to know ICC is kicking-off the Rawalpindi stadium from Champions Trophy.
Rawalpindi fans might face a disappointment soon as Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is facing the possibility of losing its hosting rights for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. It is because of the broadcasters raising concerns over logistical issues and the high operational cost required to cover four different venues (Karachi, Lahore, Dubai and Rawalpindi) throughout the tournament.
The tournament, which will feature top cricketing nations, may now be limited to three locations—Karachi, Lahore, and Dubai—due to increased costs and operational difficulties.
Broadcasting the event from multiple venues is a proving challenging, with logistical complications and the high costs of coordinating coverage across four sites. Therefore, ICC seems to be very right in their decision to knock off Rawalpindi from the list of venues.
Though final decision hasn’t come out yet, the chances are that it will not be in favour pindi stadium. Rawalpindi’s cricket fans are known for their passion for the game and that is seen in matches played at pindi stadium. Thus, the fans are disappointed after hearing this news as they were expecting to see their favourite international players performing in Rawalpindi stadium.
No wonder this is a sad news but fans across Pakistan are happy about finally being able to host the tournament. The champions Trophy 2025 hosting rights have been into great controversy for a long time and now that things have finalized, we can only hope that they remain intact and we get to witness the great players showcase their cricketing talent on the grounds of Pakistan.