The ECB's senior leadership have conceded that cricket's need to "protect broadcast rights" will see no changes to participating teams at next year's Champions Trophy regardless of whether India decide to travel to Pakistan. The tournament is due to be staged in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi but India have not played an international match in Pakistan since 2008.
Richard Gould and Richard Thompson, the ECB's chief executive and chair, said on Wednesday that there are "lots of different alternatives and contingencies available" in the event that India do not travel to Pakistan, raising the possibility of a hybrid model being used. But they clarified that the Champions Trophy going ahead without India's involvement is not an option.
The BCCI did not send a team to Pakistan last year for the Asia Cup due to strained relations between the two countries and their governments, prompting the tournament to be shifted to a hybrid model with India's matches staged in Sri Lanka. Last year, Pakistan travelled to India and participated fully in the 2023 World Cup, where they narrowly missed out on the semi-finals.
Pakistan has not hosted a major ICC event since co-hosting the men's 50-over World Cup in 1996 and the PCB have said they are "fully committed" to staging a "world-class" event. The final decision over whether or not India travel to Pakistan will rest on whether or not the Indian government grants the team permission to do so.
"It would not be in cricket's interests for India not to be playing in the Champions Trophy," Thompson said. "It's interesting, with Jay Shah - the former secretary of the BCCI and now chair of the ICC - [who] is going to have a big role to play in that. There's geopolitics, and then there's cricketing geopolitics. I think they'll find a way. They have to find a way.
"There are always security concerns in this part of the world when those two countries play each other. That will probably drive the key decisions. But I know relationships between the two countries are as amicable as they can be at the moment: we saw it play out at the [men's T20] World Cup in New York."
Gould and Thompson are in Pakistan ahead of upcoming ICC meetings in Dubai, and have been meeting PCB officials in Multan during England's second Test match. Gould said that cricket's dependence on broadcast rights as a revenue stream ensured both India and Pakistan would feature. "If you play the Champions Trophy without India, or Pakistan, the broadcast rights aren't there, and we need to protect them," he said.
"They [Pakistan] are the host nation. We've seen the developments going on, and we're all waiting to understand whether India are going to travel. That's the key. We think there are some discussions and relationships where they need to be. I know Pakistan are expecting India to travel. There are lots of different alternatives and contingencies available if that doesn't happen.
"There are a variety of different options available if those circumstances come along. But also, when was the last time Pakistan hosted any kind of ICC trophy? This is a big moment for the country, and hopefully we can have the fullest possible competition in Pakistan. If that's not possible, we know there are options available."
Thompson predicted that the exact nature of India's participation would "go to the wire". He said: "That's between India and Pakistan, and I think they will find a way where India will participate in the Champions Trophy… These things tend to go to the wire, as history has shown us, so I think that in those [last] six months, they'll find a way."
The PCB's position remains unchanged, with a board official telling ESPNcricinfo they wish to see the entirety of the tournament played in Pakistan. Fixtures for the Champions Trophy have not been published, but the PCB have submitted a draft schedule to the ICC, which would see the tournament run from February 19 to March 9, with India playing all of their matches in Lahore.
The Champions Trophy will feature eight teams, with two groups of four followed by semi-finals and a final. The competing teams are: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa.
The ICC was contacted for comment.