Members of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to abandon the presentation ceremony in the Champions Trophy final in 2025. Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar raised questions about the same on his social media handle.
None of the members of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were present during the presentation ceremony of the Champions Trophy final. International Cricket Board (ICC) chairman Jay Shah was present with BCCI president Roger Binny, secretary Devajit Saikia and another member of the ICC board were present on the dais. PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi was absent from the show and neither did any other official attend, despite them being the official host.
It is unclear why Pakistan chose to abandon the presentation ceremony. Several of their former cricketers were confident about Lahore hosting the final of the Champions Trophy but with India’s win over Australia in the semi-final, it was confirmed that the summit clash will take place in Dubai. Arguably, PCB was not happy with the development and it might be one of the reasons why they didn’t come for the final.
Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar was also surprised to see PCB missing the ceremony. He reminded that Pakistan were the host of the tournament and them not being there sends a wrong example. He asked the board members to think about that and added that he feels extremely let down to see them missing.
“India has won the Champions Trophy but I noticed there was no representative from the PCB after the final. Pakistan was hosting the Champions Trophy. I do not understand it. Why was nobody there to present the trophy? It is beyond me. It is something to think about. This is the world stage, you should have been here. Feeling very down to see that,” Akhtar said in a video posted on social media.
Meanwhile, India defeated New Zealand by four wickets to be crowned champions for the third time. Jay Shah handed the trophy to winning captain Rohit Sharma, while Saikia presented them the medals and Binny handed the white Blazers.