CHAMPIONS TROPHY 25 SET TO POSE SCHEDULING CHALLENGES TO T20 LEAGUES

CT25

The Pakistan Cricket Board are the hosts of Champions Trophy 2025.
Champions Trophy 2025, which is scheduled to be played in February and March in Pakistan, is set to make headlines for reasons other than just its venue. With Pakistan being its host, there are obvious doubts whether the eight-team tournament will go ahead there or not, mainly because of the perceived refusal of permission by the Indian government for the Indian team, but that is for a later date. At this point in time, a few boards are mulling over its impact on the schedule of their own T20 leagues.

The tournament is slated to kick off in the first week of February, which will disrupt the schedule of leagues held around that time of the year. The ILT20, for instance, kicked off on January 19 and is set to conclude on February 17. South Africa's SA20 and the Bangladesh Premier League will also face similar challenges as their dates fall between the first two months of the year.

This year, SA20 started on January 10 and will conclude exactly one month later, on February 10. The Bangladesh Premier League will not be an exception either. Normally held in January-February, this year the final of the seven-team league has spilled into March (the final is on March 1).

SA20 did not offer a comment in response to a question, but an ILT20 official confirmed the challenges that the league will face next year due to the overlap of dates with the Champions Trophy. "We will have to work on a limited window," the official said. With the current edition still underway, the IL officials have not yet considered the next season's dates, but the official confided that they may have to finish the league in January itself.

Even the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will not be immune to this disruption. If the Champions Trophy - normally a 20-day event -- takes up the entire month of February, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will have very little time in March before clashing with the dates of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is much bigger in size, popularity and profile. PSL is slated to start on February 17 this year and will run till March 18. There was not much response from the PCB on this issue. With a new committee just formed, its focus currently is on this year's edition, which will be the PSL's ninth season.