The Champions Trophy, which began on February 19, concluded on March 9. In the final match held in Dubai, the Indian team defeated New Zealand by 4 wickets to win the championship. Although Pakistan was the official host of this Champions Trophy, due to political tensions, India had pre-agreed to play its matches in Dubai.
Since India reached the finals, the championship match was held in Dubai. However, it surprised everyone that no member of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was present on stage during the award ceremony or the celebration event.
ICC President Jay Shah handed the Champions Trophy to the Indian captain. BCCI President Roger Binny also presented special jackets to the Indian players. Roger Twose, Director of New Zealand Cricket, and BCCI Secretary Debojit Saikia were also present on stage to distribute medals and logos to the players.
Although Pakistan was the host country, the absence of any PCB representatives during the award ceremony has sparked controversy. Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar raised questions about why no board member from host nation Pakistan was present during the celebration.
Responding to this, an ICC spokesperson stated that PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi was unavailable and did not travel to Dubai for the Champions Trophy final. As per ICC protocol, only designated officials are invited to present the trophy. No PCB official was present in Dubai for this task. However, being the host, PCB officials were expected to be there, the spokesperson added.
Was the PCB CEO present in Dubai?
While the ICC spokesperson claimed that no PCB official was present in Dubai, some media reports suggest otherwise. According to a PTI report, PCB’s Chief Executive Officer and Tournament Director, Sulaiman Ahmad, was in Dubai for the celebration event. However, he was not invited to the stage. A communication gap between ICC and PCB was cited as the reason for this oversight. Due to prior commitments, PCB Chairman Mohsin could not travel to Dubai and remained in Pakistan. Therefore, PCB sent Ahmad in his place, but he too was not invited onto the stage. The report further states that PCB is planning to file a formal complaint with ICC over why its CEO was not invited to the event.
What did Shoaib Akhtar say?
India won the Champions Trophy final on Sunday. But I noticed something surprising. Pakistan was the host nation of the Champions Trophy, yet during the trophy presentation, there was no member from the Pakistan Cricket Board. This is beyond my understanding. Why was no one present to represent Pakistan, and why did no one hand over the trophy? Please think about this. This is a global event, yet I didn’t see a single PCB representative on that stage. It felt very disappointing, said Shoaib Akhtar.
