New Delhi: While congratulations poured in after India’s third victory at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy, former Pakistan cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim Akram highlighted an “odd” detail they noticed during the presentation ceremony. There was no Pakistani representation at the event.
Even though Pakistan was playing host this season, no one from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) or from among Pakistan’s cricket officials was present during the award ceremony.
There has been no official comment from the Pakistani cricket body on the matter so far.
In a video posted to Instagram, hours after the match ended, Akhtar said, “India have won the ICC Champions Trophy. There was one odd thing I noticed. No one from the Pakistan Cricket Board was present during the presentation ceremony. Pakistan was the host of the Champions Trophy, but there was no representative from Pakistan. No one was there to present the trophy.”
“It is beyond me…Think about it. This is a world stage; you (the representatives) should have been there. But sadly I could not see any Pakistan board members out there. This was hosted by us, yet there was nobody there… Feeling very down to see that,” he added.
India clinched their third Champions Trophy title by defeating New Zealand by four wickets in the final held in Dubai Sunday (March 9). ICC chairman Jay Shah handed over the Champions Trophy to Indian captain Rohit Sharma.
The white blazers were presented to the champions by Roger Binny, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief.
Meanwhile, Akram during his appearance on a post-match analysis show—the DP World Dressing Room—on YouTube, revealed that PCB officials were present in the stadium but weren’t seen on the stage.
“As far as I know, chairman sahab (Mohsin Naqvi) wasn’t well but the people that came from there (PCB) were Sumair Ahmad Syed (chief operating officer) and Usman Wahla (director – international cricket) but no one was there on the stage,” he said.
He continued: “We were the host, weren’t we? How come even the COO of PCB or whoever it may be who was representing chairman Saab, why weren’t they on stage? Were they not invited? I don’t know what the story is. It definitely looked odd to me while sitting there.”
He added that he thought it was extremely important for someone from Pakistan to have been on the stage. “Chahe wo cup na de, chahe wo medal na de (even if they didn’t give the cup or medal), somebody should’ve been there.”
India opted out of traveling to host country Pakistan due to security concerns and played all its group matches, including the semi-final and the final in Dubai.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)