The captains’ meet ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 has been cancelled, according to a report in Cricket Pakistan. Already there were lot of speculations that India captain Rohit Sharma may not attend the event in Pakistan. Now the fresh report says the captains’ event was cancelled due to ‘delayed arrival’ of several teams. The report quoted ICC sources as saying England and Australia are arriving in Pakistan later than planned. England will reach Lahore on February 18, while Australia will arrive the next day. The Champions Trophy 2025 starts with a match between Pakistan and New Zealand.  In such a scenario, a captains’ meet is not feasible, said the report.

India will play its matches in Dubai. India’s group consists Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in conjunction with the ICC will hold the opening ceremony of the upcoming Champions Trophy on February 16 in Lahore.

A source in the PCB told news agency PTI that chairman Mohsin Naqvi had approved a scheduled list of events prior to the first match of the tournament on February 19 at the National Stadium in Karachi between Pakistan and New Zealand.

The PCB will officially open the renovated Gaddafi stadium on February 7 for which Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been invited as the chief guest.

On February 11, the PCB will launch the renovated National Stadium in Karachi with a ceremony in which President Asif Ali Zardari has been invited as the chief guest.

The opening ceremony is scheduled at Huzoori Bagh at the historic Lahore fort in which officials of different boards, celebrities, legends of the game, and government officials will be invited.

The ICC and PCB are yet to confirm if Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, would be travelling to Lahore for the events.

India will be playing their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai as part of a hybrid model deal between the ICC, PCB and BCCI and if they qualify for the final, then the title clash would also be held in the UAE city on March 9. 

With PTI inputs