Pakistan cricket greats Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar have expressed their disappointment at the absence of Pakistani representation during Sunday’s presentation ceremony for the Champions Trophy final in Dubai.
India defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the tournament decider to secure a third Champions Trophy title, becoming the first nation to achieve the feat. The final, along with each of India’s other four matches, were played in the United Arab Emirates because the Indian government didn’t grant permission for the national cricket team to travel to Pakistan.
However, despite being the official host nation, Pakistan didn’t have any cricket officials present during the post-match presentation ceremony. Instead, on the podium was BCCI president Roger Binny, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, New Zealand Cricket director Roger Twose and ICC chair Jay Shah, who previously served as the BCCI secretary. Former Australian cricket captain Aaron Finch, having lifted the T20 World Cup at the same venue in 2021, was also tasked with bringing the trophy onto the podium.
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“India have won the Champions Trophy, but I noticed something rather strange,” former Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar posted to Twitter.
“There wasn’t a single representative from the PCB on the podium, even though Pakistan was the host of the tournament. I can’t understand why no one was there to represent the country. It’s beyond me to even think about. There should have been someone on this world stage. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any PCB members out there.”
PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi was meant to be part of the presentation ceremony, but didn’t travel to Dubai for the final, reportedly due to feeling unwell. Speaking on the Dressing Room show, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram questioned why tournament director Sumair Ahmad Syed, who is also the PCB’s Chief Operating Officer, wasn’t invited on stage in Naqvi’s absence.
“We were the host, weren’t we right?” Akram said.
“How come even the COO of PCB or whoever it may be who was representing (Naqvi), why weren’t they on stage? Were they not invited? I don’t know what is the story. It definitely looked odd to me while sitting here.”
According to ESPNcricinfo, the PCB has reached out to the ICC for an explanation.
On Tuesday, the ICC released a statement explaining that only elected members or directors of boards are permitted on stage for presentation ceremonies.
“Mr. Naqvi was unavailable and didn’t travel to Dubai for the final,” the statement read.
“The ICC only invites the head of the host board—such as the president, vice president, chairman, or CEO—to participate in the awards ceremony. Other board officials, regardless of their presence at the venue, are not part of the stage proceedings.”
Earlier in the Champions Trophy, the PCB sought an explanation from the ICC after Pakistan’s name was omitted from the logo on the official broadcast for the group-stage match between India and Bangladesh in Dubai. The following day, the Indian national anthem briefly played at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium ahead of the group-stage match between Australia and England, further antagonising the PCB.
Pakistan was hosting its first major ICC tournament in nearly three decades.