'Take Away Hosting Rights': Rashid Latif Wants Severe Punishment For India, Pakistan Amid Champions Trophy Saga

'Take Away Hosting Rights': Rashid Latif Wants Severe Punishment For India, Pakistan Amid Champions Trophy Saga Photo : AP

The Champions Trophy standoff has reached a new point as Pakistan wrote a letter to the ICC demanding an explanation from BCCI after India refused to travel to Pakistan. India hasn't travelled to Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup.

BCCI cited that the Indian government didn’t provide them with the necessary permission for the Champions Trophy which is all set to be hosted by Pakistan from February 9 next year.

For the first time since 1996 Pakistan will be hosting a major ICC tournament and three venues have been finalised, Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi. There have been a huge uproar regarding the ongoing tug-of-war between India and Pakistan and Rashid Latif called ICC to ban India and Pakistan from hosting rights.

In an interaction with Hindustan Times the former Pakistan wicketkeeper said, "My suggestion is that ICC should take away the hosting rights of all global events from India and Pakistan for the cycle of 2024-2031. ICC should tell these boards to first resolve all the issues and then we will give you the hosting rights.

"I think Pakistan are slated to host two ICC events, India are also slated to host four-five events in this time period. Take away the hosting rights, if these two teams don't want to play in each other's country, then I am just giving a suggestion that the hosting rights should be taken away by the ICC."

Pakistan have arrived to India on multiple occasions to take part in various ICC events with the recent being the 2023 ODI World Cup. The 2023 Asia Cup was also designated to be hosted solely by Pakistan, but India's refusal led Sri Lanka to host India's matches and the final.

It remains to be seen how the situation turns out in near future.

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