Champions Trophy 2025: Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram express disappointment over absence of PCB officials at presentation
"We were the host, weren’t we right? 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?" Akram said.
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India clinched the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in an exiciting final game against New Zealand, but an sudden controversy arose as no representatives from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were present during the final game and post-match presentation ceremony despite Pakistan being the official host nation for the tournament. The absence of PCB officials did not go unseen, drawing criticism from cricketing figures, including former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar.
Taking to Twitter, Akhtar posted a video saying, "ICC Champions Trophy Hindustan ne jeet gayi hai, ek ajeeb se cheez mene dekhi hai ki Pakistan Cricket Board ka koi numaynda yaha khada nahi tha. Pakistan hi Champions Trophy host kar rahi thi aur Pakistan ka koi bhi numaynda yaha par khada nahi tha. Ye baat meri samjh se bahar hai, koi represent karne kyu nahi aaya trophy aur dene yahan par kyu nahi aaya, it is beyond my point, so think about it please. World stage hai yahan pe aapko hona chahiye tha but I sadly I could not see any Pakistan Cricket Board member out there. Aur ye hosted by us yet there's nobody there, think about it, feeling very down to see that."
Watch the video:
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1.6KDefinitely looked odd to me: Wasim Akram
Former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram also raised a question on the matter, stating he does not understand why not even a single representative from the host nation should not be part of the formalities.
“As far as I know, Chairman Saab (PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi) wasn’t well but the people that came from there (PCB) were Sumair Ahmad Syed (Chief Operating Officer of PCB) and Usman Wahla (Director of International for PCB) but no one was there on the stage,” said Akram on the Dressing Room show after the event.
“We were the host, weren’t we right? 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 is the story. It definitely looked odd to me while sitting here. Pakistani, koi na koi stage par khada hona bahot jaruri tha. Chahe wo cup na de, chahe wo medal na de but somebody should’ve been there. (It was imperative that Pakistan should have had representation in any form.),” added Akram.
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