-
- Published: November 21, 2024 08:25
New Delhi: The Champions Trophy stand-off between India and Pakistan gets murkier as the broadcaster threatens to take legal actions if India vs Pakistan does not occur. There has been no progress since the BCCI informed the International Cricket Council (ICC) that it has not got the clearance from the Indian government to send the men in Blue for the champions trophy scheduled to take place next year owing to security reasons.
After that announcement, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sought a written explanation from the ICC about the status of the participation of various teams. It also said that a hybrid model (where some matches will be played at a neutral venue) is not acceptable to it.
In the midst of this, a report in Cricket Pakistan has claimed that the announcement of the Champions Trophy schedule has been halted due to the current stand-off. While India does not want to travel the Pakistan, the latter does not want to play any match in a neutral venue. This tug-of-war is leading to huge losses for the broadcasters who have milked away huge monetary revenue from these marquee clashes.
How much revenue does the marquee clash between India and Pakistan accrue?
The ICC has made sure to milk the rivalry for the last decade, with the World Test Championship being the only ICC event where the two nations haven’t met. Both countries have been strategically placed in the same group in events following their 2007 ODI World Cup exits. The same happened with the Champions Trophy 2025, where India has drawn New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Pakistan in Group A.
However, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) plan to boycott India could mean that the rivalry, which garners a mammoth amount of money for the ICC, won’t be a cash generation anymore. For the 2024-27 cycle, the ICC has already struck a broadcast rights deal worth $3.2 billion (Rs 27007 crore) and expects to earn around $ 1 billion (Rs 8439 crore) more in revenue from different sources.
