England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) CEO Richard Gould backed Pakistan as the host of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled in February-March.
Gould, in an interview with the BBC Test Match Special, expressed his interest in facilitating to host a long-awaited Test between arch-rivals Pakistan and India.
Notably, Pakistan and India have not played a Test since 2007/08 and a bilateral series in any format since 2012/13 due to the long-standing political tensions between the two neighbouring countries.
The fierce rivals, however, only came face to face in multi-national events like Asia Cup and ICC World Cups.
Earlier this year, a number of renowned stadiums in England, including Lord’s, The Oval and Edgbaston said that they would be “open to exploring” the potency of hosting the bilateral Test series between arch-rivals Pakistan and India.
“Everybody would love that. I wouldn’t say it’s [hosting and India v Pakistan Test] impossible. The politics between the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board are long known, as are the politics between governments. And I find that fascinating,” Gould said.
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“We were in Sri Lanka over the weekend for ICC meetings, and you see Pakistan cricket supporters and India cricket supporters getting on so well, but as soon as the political element is put in, it creates issues,” he added.
Richard Gould further confirmed that the ECB is committed to the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan despite the uncertainty surrounding India’s participation in the eight-team tournament.
“There’s a great deal of determination to make sure it [Champions Trophy] is [hosted in Pakistan next year],” said Gould. “Particularly from the PCB and the ECB,” Gould concluded.
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