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In a major change from past ICC tournaments, the traditional captains’ photoshoot and pre-tournament press conference will not be held in Pakistan ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. This development also rules out the possibility of the Indian captain Rohit Sharma traveling to Pakistan for any official pre-event commitments.
The captains’ meet-and-greet event, which is typically organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) before major tournaments, provides a platform for the skippers to interact with the media and set the tone for the competition. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that this customary event has been scrapped.
Reason behind cancelation of captain’s photoshoot
A senior PCB official revealed that the key reason behind the decision was the unavailability of several teams due to their packed international schedules. Given these prior commitments, it became increasingly difficult to gather all captains in one place before the tournament’s start.
“The thing is that all the teams have a busy schedule before the tournament. England and India are playing white ball series while the Australian team is playing Test and ODI series in Sri Lanka,” said a source as quoted by NDTV.
Also READ: Pakistan Cricket Board finalizes spectacular opening ceremonies for the Champions Trophy 2025
PCB cancels captains’ press meet in consultation with ICC
Although the captains’ photoshoot and press conference have been canceled, the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 will still feature a grand opening ceremony on February 16. The PCB source confirmed that England are expected to arrive in Lahore on February 18, while Australia will touch down in Pakistan on February 19.
Since several captains will not be in the country ahead of the opening matches, the decision was made to drop the traditional captains’ press meet. The PCB and ICC agreed that it would be impractical to schedule the event when key teams would still be traveling or engaged in other series.
“The source said that the opening ceremony will be held on February 16. He added that England will arrive in Lahore on February 18, while Australia will arrive on February 19. The source also said that PCB decided in consultation with the ICC that there will be no official group press conference of all the captains as not everyone will be available before the tournament and there will also be no official photo shoot,” the source added.
