Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) expects Rohit Sharma to travel to the neighbouring country for the Champions Trophy opening ceremony. As per reports, the governing body has planned to host a grand opening ceremony on either February 16 or 17. As per standard practice, all the captains of the participating nations are expected to attend the opening ceremony and the official photo shoot. In such a case, Rohit may travel to Pakistan but BCCI officials are yet to comment on the matter.
PCB will be hosting its first ICC event after 29 years and is leaving no stone unturned to host a grand ceremony before the tournament commences on February 19. India are yet to announce its squad for the tournament and it is expected either chief selector Ajit Agarkar or captain Rohit to give a clear picture of the matter after the team is announced
Meanwhile, BCCI after consulting with the Government of India denied to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy and informed the International Cricket Council (ICC) about the same. After plenty of discussions, it has been finalised that the Men in Blue will be playing all their matches in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while the rest of the tournament will be hosted in Pakistan.
India will be playing Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand in the group stage of the competition. Dubai International Cricket Stadium will be hosting all their games in the first round. Pakistan, on the other hand, will be playing their opening game against the BlackCaps in Karachi. They will travel to Dubai to face India and will host Bangladesh in their final group-stage game in Rawalpindi.
Ahead of the mega tournament, India will be hosting a white-ball series against England. The form of the senior batters will be closely monitored as BCCI officials are likely to take a call about their future after the tournament concludes.