With Pakistan gearing for the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh, former cricketer, Basit Ali has dropped a huge warning relating to ongoing concerns of Champions Trophy 2025 being moved out of Pakistan. With only a few days left for the Bangladesh Test series against Pakistan, Ali has emphasised on the importance of maintaining security measures as the nation prepares to host the Champions Trophy in February-March 2025.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Basit Ali stated that any kind of security concerns will lead to the tournament being moved out, followed by warning for a close watch in the upcoming tours of England and West Indies also. “Since the Champions Trophy is in Pakistan, and teams like England and West Indies are scheduled to tour after Bangladesh, we must pay attention to security,” he said.
“God forbid, the Champions Trophy won’t be played here if there is any incident in these tours. Our soldiers are getting martyred in Balochistan and Peshawar. Only the government can answer why it has been happening, but it’s wrong,” Ali further added. “We must ensure that there is not even a small security breach. The foreign teams should get the same security as our Prime Minister and President. I am sure Mohsin Naqvi will be aware of these things,” he further asserted.
It is to be noted that there have been concerns mounting over Pakistan ahead of big tournaments seeing its past incidents. In 2021, New Zealand abondoned their tour just ahead of the ODI series due to security concerns. It led to England also pulling out of their scheduled tour.