During the awards presentation ceremony of the Champions Trophy final in Dubai, the absence of a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) representative has raised eyebrows with fast bowling legend Shoaib Akhtar calling it “strange".
Pakistan were the official hosts of the ICC tournament.
However, due to the diplomatic tensions with Pakistan, India refused to travel across the border and played all their matches in Dubai including the semifinal and the final as part of the Hybrid Model.
The likes of ICC Chairman Jay Shah, BCCI president Roger Binny, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, Director Of New Zealand Cricket Roger Twose were part of the presentation party.
However, as per reports, traditionally, a member of the country hosting the ICC event is present at such ceremonies, but it wasn’t the case with Champions Trophy 2025 final.
“India has won the Champions Trophy. I observed a strange thing. There was nobody representing Pakistan Cricket Board (during the presentation ceremony). This was a tournament hosted by Pakistan and nobody representing the country was present. This is beyond my understanding. Why wasn’t anyone there to represent Pakistan and handover trophies? It’s beyond me. A point to think about, please," Akhtar said in a clip via his official handle on X.
“It’s a world stage, there should have been someone present. Sadly, I couldn’t see any PCB member out there. We hosted it and yet there was nobody (from PCB) there. Think about it, feeling very down to see that," he added.
India defeated New Zealand by four wickets in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to become win the tournament for the first time after 12 years.
India won all their matches en route to the title that included victories over Bangladesh, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia. This is the third time after 2002 (joint winners) and 2013 that India have won the tournament.
Source: News18