India and Pakistan have historically had strained political relations. However, since the Pahalgam attacks in April 2025, India's stance towards Pakistan has intensified. The twist, though, is that the PCB has often opted to fight and lose its battles, rather than giving up at the very start.
Regardless, the fact remains that India-Pakistan rivalry is causing logistical nightmares for the ICC. Consider the ongoing T20 World Cup that is co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. There was a lot of drama created by Pakistan whose government had made an announcement instructing its team to boycott the India game through a social media release.
This decision came despite the fact that Pakistan had no grounds to make such a call. Their demands of a neutral venue were met in advance and this was just their 'gesture' to support Bangladesh who had to be replaced after their demands of venue relocation wasn't approved by the ICC. The last six months have also seen PCB boss Mohsin Naqvi going away with the Asia Cup trophy won by India who haven't got it yet.
Amid all this intensified chaos between the two countries, the BCCI could lose out on the hosting rights of the next two ICC tournaments - Champions Trophy 2029 and ODI World Cup 2031 - both of which are to be held in India. It is a no-brainer that the revenue generated by an India-Pakistan game virtually drives the entire tournament's economy, but if one of the teams are hosting, things get complicated.
According to Daniel Brettig, the ICC is considering to move those two tournaments to Australia which has been a hugely popular country to host ICC events. The 2022 T20 World Cup in particular made for fine viewing with the time zones also aligning well with the core Asian market. A night game in Australia starts roughly by 1.30-2 pm and if the game is in Western Australia, by 3-4 pm.
Conducting the entire tournament in a different country means that logistical issues will be non-existent. It is too early to conclude whether the ICC will strongly pursue this move but given the escalations and also adding the Bangladesh angle to this political mess, cricket stands a lot to lose if these conflicts continue.