The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi appears to be in direct clash with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) amid the ongoing Asia Cup trophy dispute. According to a report by PTI, Naqvi is expected to skip the upcoming ICC Executive Board meeting in Dubai citing “domestic political commitments.”
The controversy dates back to September 28 in Dubai when India won the Asia Cup final after defeating Pakistan. But one notable thing was that India refused to take trophy from PCB chairman Naqvi and this in turn triggered him. Following India’s refusal, Mohsin Naqvi decided to run away with the trophy.
Naqvi reportedly insisted on the Indian team collecting the trophy directly from him despite several requests for a formal handover by the BCCI. Later, he offered a separate presentation in Dubai, which was rejected by the BCCI while threatening to escalate it at the ICC meeting if the trophy was not officially handed over.
The four-day ICC meeting began on Tuesday, where Naqvi was expected to face the BCCI delegation over the matter. However, PCB insiders now say he is likely to miss the meeting, though he may participate virtually. PCB Chief Operating Officer Sumair Syed will represent the board in person when the meeting convenes on November 7.
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Although the PCB hasn’t revealed the nature of Naqvi’s political obligations, it is pertinent to state that Naqvi is the Interior Minister of Pakistan as well and has never attended an ICC meeting since Jay Shah – who is also the secretary of BCCI – replaced Greg Barclay as the chairman of the global cricket body last year.
Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia had issued a warning on the first day of the week that if India did not get the Asia Cup trophy before November 3, the board would raise the issue at the ICC board officially.
