India won the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 for the third time in the tournament’s history after defeating New Zealand in the championship match. The Indian players were given the recognisable white jackets and the winners’ medal after their victory on Sunday, March 9 in Dubai, while the representatives also gave the Kiwi players their runners-up medal.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was the host, but surprisingly, none of its representatives attended the post-match award ceremony. Attendees for the gala ceremony at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium were BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia, ICC Chairperson Jay Shah, and BCCI President Roger Binny. As a result, the public quickly began to wonder why PCB representatives were not available, particularly Mohsin Naqvi, the board’s chairperson.
Nevertheless, Mohsin’s own unavailability due to specific prior engagements was the cause, not ICC’s fault. The news that Naqvi was unavailable and unable to go to Dubai for the function was confirmed by an ICC spokeswoman.
Mr. Naqvi did not travel because he was unavailable. No office bearer was available from PCB for the trophy presentation since, as far as I could determine, only office bearers could be called. India Today reported that the ICC official stated, “And they (PCB) were the hosts, they should have been there.”
PCB will challenge the ICC’s act.
Despite the assertion, the story goes on to say that the host country finds it amusing that the ICC failed to call PCB CEO Sumair Ahmed, who attended the game but was not invited to the closing ceremony because of a communication breakdown. The actions of the council are reportedly being questioned by the Pakistani board.
According to a news source, “PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi was sent to represent Pakistan at the final and closing presentation, but he was unable to travel to Dubai due to prior obligations as federal minister for interior.”