Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal has urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to stand firm and look to withdraw from future multi-nation events against India. The Men in Blue beat Pakistan by five wickets in the final but soon the attention turned to what happened later.
The Indian team refused to receive the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the PCB chairman and Interior Minister of Pakistan. Due to this, the trophy ceremony was held up by a good 45 minutes.
Akmal’s comments reflect growing discontent within Pakistan’s cricketing community. He pointed to Naqvi’s conduct throughout the tournament, which included sharing openly pro-Pakistan and anti-India views on social media an approach many found inappropriate given his role as the ACC head. Naqvi had also reportedly asked for match referee Andy Pycroft to be replaced after the group stage handshake controversy between the two teams.
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“Pakistan board should immediately say that ‘we should never play against India’. Let’s see what action ICC takes. What else evidence do you need after this? But the BCCI person is leading the ICC – how will he (Jay Shah) take any action? The other boards have to come together, say we can’t see this in cricket. Sport is not played at anyone’s home. If others don’t play them, then no money is going to come,” Akmal told ARY News.
“The earlier these things can be controlled, the better for everybody. A neutral body has to be formed without Pakistan and India, make a committee of Australians, South Africans, and New Zealanders and let them decide on what action to be taken about all that has happened in this tournament,” he added.
“This cheap harkatein (behaviour) we shall keep seeing from India. We have seen in this tournament that they have done as much damage to cricket as they could. PCB and ACC president took the right stand – take the trophy or not, it will be given by the president only. India will become the joke of the cricketing world,” said Akmal.
India’s trophy refusal has generated fierce responses in all of Pakistan’s cricket communities, with Akmal referring to it as a serious protocol and respect breach. The issue has now generated broader controversy over the future of India-Pakistan cricket relations in multi-nation tournaments.
