Mohsin Naqvi, President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), who is also the Home Minister of Pakistan and Chairman of the Cricket Board, will be present in his country’s match against India in the Asia Cup final at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. He expressed his curiosity for the final match. This is the first time in the history of Asia Cup when Pakistan and India will be face to face in the finals.
Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement, ‘This year’s Asia Cup cricket has been a great performance of excellence and talent. The passion of fans, the competitive spirit of the Asian teams and their incredible performance on the field have truly made it a memorable event. We will get to see a record viewer number, which is a proof of the increasing popularity of cricket throughout the continent. I am excited to watch a great final match and I am eager to hand over the trophy to the winning team.
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It will be interesting to see how the Indian team reacts to their presence in the trophy ceremony after the match. Although it is not a big deal for board chiefs to come to watch cricket matches, but what can cause controversy is that Mohsin Naqvi as ACC Chief is mandatory to be present in the post -final award for the final. As the head of the Asian Cricket Council, he will have the right to provide a trophy and traditionally join hands with both teams.
Since the Indian team maintains the ‘No Handshek’ policy with Pakistan, it is very less likely that the BCCI will allow its players to interact with PCB chief Mohsin. Mohsin Naqvi’s public stance has been anti -India. The BCCI has not yet clarified its stand on Naqvi. Not only this, only after the pressure of Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB accused the match referee Andy Paikroft to stop the players of India and Pakistan from having a meeting with each other after the match on 14 September, which was rejected by the ICC.
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Mohsin Naqvi had requested the ICC to ban Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav for the final match. The PCB had accused him under Level 4 of the ICC, as Suryakumar Yadav dedicated the victory of Team India against Pakistan to the armed forces of the country on September 14 and also showed solidarity with the families of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. A source associated with the tournament told the news agency PTI on the condition of anonymity, “The information so far is that Mohsin Naqvi will be present in the final match and he will provide the trophy to the winning team as ACC President. Let’s see what BCCI decides.
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