Rohit Sharma May Go To Pakistan To Pose With Champions Trophy But Should He For A Photo Op?

The upcoming ICC Champions Trophy was rigged with controversy regarding India not travelling to Pakistan for the tournament. Eventually it was decided that the matches that will be played by India will take place in Dubai while the rest of the teams will continue playing in Pakistan. According to tradition, all of the captains of the participating teams get a photoshoot done with the trophy. The Pakistan Cricket Board are hopeful that Indian Captain Rohit Sharma will also be present in Pakistan for the photo-op with the trophy but the questions remains why should Rohit travel to a nation that has consistently harbored terrorism and launched several attacks against India. 

Pakistan have been notorious in sending terrorists to attack the Indian state and killing the brave soldiers that protect the borders of the country, thus the question arises should Rohit travel to a country that openly attacks India via non-state actor methods. 

Rohit Sharma To Attend Champions Trophy Opening Ceremony In PAK?

The opening ceremony of the Champions Trophy will be held either on February 16 or 17 and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is confident that India captain Rohit Sharma will be in attendance at the event.

The PCB source also said that it is awaiting communication from the ICC on the schedule of the customary captains' photo-shoot and the pre-event press conference.

The eight-team tournament will get underway on February 19 in Karachi. However, India will play all their matches in Dubai, starting with the clash against Bangladesh on February 20, after refusing to travel to Pakistan owing to security concerns.

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The source said PCB has procured all relevant clearances from its government to promptly issue visas to all captains, players and team officials who will come here for pre-tournament events.

"This obviously includes Rohit or any other Indian team player or official or board official," he added.

PCB Confirms Opening Ceremony Will Be Held In PAK

Another source confirmed to PTI that the PCB has made it clear to the ICC that the opening ceremony, featuring all teams and their captains, will take place in Pakistan.

"This is in line with the usual protocols and since the opening match is on 19th the opening ceremony can be expected either on the 16th or 17th," the source added. 

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He said the schedule of the opening ceremony would depend on the warm-up matches list.

The source said that recently three Indian nationals, who were a part of the ICC delegation which came to Pakistan, were promptly issued visas once the world body sent their names to the PCB. 

(With PTI Inputs)