Akram believes India will travel to Pakistan for Champions Trophy

India have not played in Pakistan since 2008, but former Pakistan paceman Wasim Akram remains hopeful that India will make the trip for the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy. Akram believes that India travelling to Pakistan would be beneficial not only for cricket but also for both countries.

"I think whatever I'm reading, there are positive vibes from [the] Indian government and [the] BCCI," Akram was quoted as saying by Cricinfo. "I also read somewhere they will play probably all their games in Lahore. They will probably come to Lahore and travel [back] the same night. I'm all for it, as long as India is comfortable.

"And I can promise you, they [are] going to get looked after amazingly well. I mean, Indian cricketers like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, [Hardik] Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, they have fans in Pakistan. The young cricket fans adore them."

A hybrid model was used for the Asia Cup in 2023, with just four matches played in Pakistan and the rest hosted in Sri Lanka. The UAE is considered an alternate venue should any part of the Champions Trophy need to be relocated.

While India did not send a team to Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup, Pakistan participated in the 2023 ODI World Cup held in India.

"People-to-people contact is very important in this day and age," Akram added. "In this social media age, there's so much negativity all over the world, unnecessary negativity in my opinion, and I think if India come, it will be great for cricket, and of course, it'll be great for Pakistan too."

The Champions Trophy will feature eight teams, with two groups of four, followed by semi-finals and a final. Competing teams include Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa.