India have not played in Pakistan since 2008 but legendary former Pakistan paceman Wasim Akram was hopeful that India will travel to Pakistan for the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy. Akram felt that India travelling to Pakistan will not only be great for cricket but also for both India and Pakistan.

"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 in the Asia Cup in 2023, where just four matches were played in Pakistan while the rest were hosted in Sri Lanka. UAE is believed to be an alternate venue should any part of the Champions Trophy be moved out.

Although India did not send the team to Pakistan in the 2023 Asia Cup, Pakistan did send their team to the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.

"People-to-people contact is very important in this day and age," he said. "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," Wasim said.

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