Earlier this month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it had been informed by the ICC of India’s decision not to travel.
That has left the tournament, scheduled to begin on 19 February, in limbo. The ICC is yet to officially publish fixtures for the eight-team event, although a schedule has been shared with broadcasters without venues allocated to matches.
The tournament comprises two groups of four – England, Australia, South Africa, Afghanistan, New Zealand and Bangladesh are also competing. The top two from each group advance to the semi-finals.
If a hybrid is employed, it raises the prospect of two separate venues, possibly more than 1,000 miles apart, being on stand-by for a semi and the final depending on India’s progress.
The idea of India being thrown out of the tournament appears to be a non-starter, given the game’s financial dependence on the country.
Speaking last month, England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould said: “If you play the Champions Trophy without India or Pakistan, the broadcast rights aren’t there, and we need to protect them.”
And this week, New Zealand Cricket chief executive Scott Weenink told BBC Sport: “Our working assumption is it will still be played in Pakistan. If it happens to be split because India can’t go to Pakistan, then we’ll just adapt to that.
“There’s a whole lot that goes into it. India do a lot for the world game and we’re all really grateful for that. We’d all love to see India and Pakistan play more cricket against each other. Clearly that’s a challenge.
“The rest of us play what is in front of us. World cricket is complicated. We do what we can to support the ICC.”
