India's grip on two of cricket's most prestigious events — the 2029 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2031 ODI World Cup — is under serious threat. For the first time in modern cricket history, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is reportedly exploring whether Australia should step in as an alternative host, a move that would mark a seismic shift in the global cricketing order.

India lifted the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025 — but their future hosting rights for 2029 and 2031 now hang in the balance. © Getty Images

According to a report by Australia's The Age, the ICC is quietly considering relocating the 2029 Champions Trophy and the 2031 ODI World Cup out of India due to an increasingly complicated geopolitical web that has made logistics nearly impossible to manage. Australia — a nation with a well-established track record of hosting major ICC events — has emerged as the frontrunner to take over.

The Root of the Problem: India-Pakistan's Cricketing Standoff

The friction traces back to the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, when India declined to travel to Pakistan citing security concerns following the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025. After intense negotiations, the BCCI, ICC, and PCB agreed on a "hybrid model" where India's matches were played at a neutral venue — Dubai. While that temporary fix held the tournament together, it created a precedent with far-reaching consequences.

Under the December 2024 ICC agreement, neither India nor Pakistan would play matches on each other's soil at any ICC event through 2027. That arrangement, which was already a logistical headache for broadcasters and organizers, is now likely to be extended well beyond 2027 given that tensions between the two nations have only deepened. The symbolic refusal of Indian players to shake hands with Pakistani cricketers at the Asia Cup 2025 and the T20 World Cup 2026 is a stark indicator of just how far the rift has grown.

The era of India automatically hosting every major ICC tournament may be coming to a temporary — or perhaps permanent — end.

— Cricket analyst commentary, The Age (Australia)

Bangladesh Adds Fuel to the Fire

If the India-Pakistan stalemate were not enough, Bangladesh's recent decision to withdraw from the 2026 T20 World Cup has added another layer of complexity. Bangladesh had requested the ICC to shift its India-hosted matches to Sri Lanka, citing safety concerns. When the ICC declined, Bangladesh withdrew entirely, with Scotland stepping in as a replacement.

This development is particularly alarming for the ICC because the 2031 ODI World Cup is scheduled to be co-hosted by India and Bangladesh. If Bangladesh continues to refuse travel to India, the entire structure of that tournament collapses. The ICC is acutely aware that it cannot afford another hybrid-model negotiation of the scale seen in 2025 — and certainly not for a full-scale 50-over World Cup.

India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series since 2013. Their ICC clashes at neutral venues are now the only setting for cricket's greatest rivalry. © Getty Images