India will not tour Pakistan due to the extremely fragile political relations that have persisted between the two countries for over a decade. Hence, all of India’s matches are scheduled at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. With such a sad backdrop to this match, the Indian tricolor was spotted at the National Stadium in Karachi on February 18, on the eve of the opening game of the competition.
Several viral videos captured the Indian flag at the National Stadium that was scheduled to host the Champions Trophy opener between Pakistan-the host-and New Zealand, beginning Wednesday, February 19.
This has made headlines due to the fact that, just a couple of days ago, a video surfaced showing all flags of the participating nations that were raised except India’s, on one of the buildings on Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Fans coded out the PCB for purposely omitting India from its flags, although later, the Board issued a statement saying it was an ICC directive.
India's flag raised at the National Stadium in Karachi. What a moment 🇵🇰🇮🇳♥️♥️
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) February 18, 2025
We have big hearts, we don't do cheap acts. All 7 Indian journalists granted Pakistan visas too 🤗 #ChampionsTrophy2025 pic.twitter.com/zWfIMCaVex
”The ICC has said that on 2025 Champions Trophy match days, only four flags would be flown – those of: ICC (Event Authority), PCB (Event Host) and the two competing sides,” said an official associated with the PCB in his comments to Hindustan Times.
India’s last tour of Pakistan by the men’s cricket team was in June-July 2008, when it participated in the Asia Cup. Team India has never crossed the borders for a match against the Pakistan team. In the past 17 years, only once has Pakistan toured India to play bilateral series (in December 2012-January 2013, comprising T20Is and ODIs), while it has come thrice for ICC tournaments (2011 ODI World Cup semifinal, 2016 T20 World Cup, and 2023 ODI World Cup).
India is going to host the 2025 edition of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, and we will see if the women’s team from Pakistan will travel to India to play its matches.
