Pakistan calls it 'matter of great pride' to be chosen to host ICC Champions Trophy in 2025

Pakistan team celebrate their win at the presentation after the ICC Champions Trophy final cricket match between India and Pakistan at The Oval in London, United Kingdom, on June 18, 2017. (AFP/File)
Short Url
Updated 17 November 2021
Follow

Pakistan calls it 'matter of great pride' to be chosen to host ICC Champions Trophy in 2025

  • The country will be hosting its first major cricket tournament in 29 years after making strenuous efforts to revive international cricket in Pakistan
  • The ICC also announced the United States will co-host 2024 T20 World Cup with West Indies

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's top cricket official said on Tuesday it was a "matter of great pride" for his country that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had chosen it to host the Champions Trophy in 2025.

The ICC announced world cricket tournaments scheduled to take place from 2024 to 2031 earlier in the day, surprising everyone by mentioning that the United States would co-host the T20 World Cup for the first time with West Indies.

Pakistan, which tried to revive international cricket after militants targeted the Sri Lankan team in 2009, will host its first major tournament in 29 years, said the Associated Press.

"It's a matter of great pride and delight that Pakistan will be hosting ICC Champions Trophy 2025," the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja said in a Twitter post. "This great news will surely excite millions of Pakistani fans, expats and world fans to see great teams and players in action and will allow the world to sample our hospitality."

 

 

A PCB statement noted the ICC decision meant that Pakistan would "defend the ICC Champions Trophy title in their backyard when the eight-team and 15-match tournament is held at three iconic venues in February 2025."

It recalled that "Pakistan had defeated India by 180 runs in the 2017 tournament at The Oval" in London.

Commenting on its decision to allow the US, a non-cricket playing country, to host the next T20 World Cup, ICC chairman Greg Barclay said: "The USA is a strategic growth market for us."

Despite rigorous efforts to revive international cricket in the country, Pakistan faced tough challenges until September this year when New Zealand abandoned their cricket tour without playing a single match in the country over "security alert."

Days later, England called off its scheduled tour to Pakistan as well, disappointing millions of cricket fans in the country who were hoping to see the world's top cricket teams in action in local stadiums.

While the Pakistan cricket players did not get much practice, they still performed well during the recent Twenty20 World Cup and secured a place in the semi-finals.


Kazakhstan president to explore trade, connectivity cooperation in first state visit to Pakistan tomorrow

Updated 12 min 19 sec ago
Follow

Kazakhstan president to explore trade, connectivity cooperation in first state visit to Pakistan tomorrow

  • Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to visit Pakistan from Feb. 3-4 with high-level delegation, says Pakistan’s foreign office
  • Kazakh president to meet Pakistani counterpart, hold talks with PM Shehbaz Sharif and address Pakistan-Kazakhstan Business Forum

ISLAMABAD: Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will explore bilateral cooperation with Pakistan in trade, regional connectivity, logistics and other sectors when he undertakes his first state visit to the country this week, Pakistan’s foreign office said on Monday. 

Tokayev will arrive in Pakistan leading a high-level delegation comprising senior cabinet ministers and high-ranking officials from Feb. 3-4, the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement. 

Tokayev is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart President Asif Ali Zardari, hold talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and address the Pakistan-Kazakhstan Business Forum during the visit, the foreign office said. 

“The visit will provide the two sides an important and timely opportunity to undertake a comprehensive review of bilateral relations, discuss new avenues for broadening cooperation, particularly in trade, logistics, regional connectivity, people-to-people contacts, and explore collaboration at regional and international forums,” the statement said. 

The foreign office said Tokayev’s visit reflects the strengthening bonds between Pakistan and Kazakhstan, their mutual commitment to transforming historic and cultural affinities into robust cooperation, as well as their common desire for peace and progress in the region. 

Relations between Pakistan and Kazakhstan are rooted in shared Islamic heritage and a growing strategic partnership, with Pakistan offering landlocked Central Asian republics access to southern seaports for global trade. Pakistan was among the first countries to recognize Kazakhstan when it gained independence in December 1991 and formally established diplomatic relations with it on Feb. 24, 1992. 

The two countries have held regular interactions over the past couple of years on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meetings and other international events. Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Murat Nurtleu visited

Pakistan in September 2025 to discuss economic and trade cooperation with Islamabad. 

Islamabad and Astana engage with each other to promote business and political ties via three forums mainly, which are: Bilateral Political Consultations, the Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation, and the Joint Business Council. 

According to the government of Kazakhstan, bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to $53.7 million in 2024. Pakistan’s main exports to Kazakhstan include citrus fruits, pharmaceutical products, garments, soap, sports equipment and gear and others.

Kazakhstan’s exports to Pakistan primarily include onions and garlic, dried leguminous vegetables, oats, buckwheat and other cereal grains, seeds and fruits of other oil-bearing crops, among others.