PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi to be awarded gold medal by Pakistan for 'fleeing' with Asia Cup 2025 trophy
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi to be awarded gold medal by Pakistan for 'fleeing' with Asia Cup 2025 trophy")
PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi and Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav Photograph: (AFP)
The award is in recognition of his “principled and courageous stance” during the post match presentation ceremony, where Naqvi and his team walked away with the trophy after the Men in Blue refused to take it from him.
India defended their Asia Cup title in Dubai by beating arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets. But a controversy that erupted after the match hogged the limelight. During the presentation ceremony India refused to collect the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) head and chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mohsin Naqvi. Now, after the incident for which Naqvi received a lot of flak from cricket lovers across the world, Pakistan is reportedly set to honour the PCB chief with the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Excellence Gold Medal.
The award is in recognition of his “principled and courageous stance” during the post match presentation ceremony, where Naqvi and his team walked away with the trophy after the Men in Blue refused to take it from him - a move interpreted as a political snub in the backdrop of Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
Advocate Ghulam Abbas Jamal, President of the Sindh and Karachi Basketball Associations making the announcement said Naqvi’s actions had “restored national pride", reported The Independent.
The medal reportedly will be presented to Naqvi at a grand ceremony in Karachi, where Pakistan Peoles Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is expected to be the chief guest.
What was the Controversy
During the post match ceremony India refused to collect the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) head and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi.
Trending Stories
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
What unfolded later was even more interesting. Naqvi, instead of leaving the trophy at the presentation ceremony venue for India to celebrate, walked away with it.
However, this did not deter the spirit of Men in Blue from celebrating their win against their cricketing foe Pakistan. Indian players stood next to the empty stage, with captain Suryakumar Yadav playfully pretending to hold the trophy as the team celebrated the victory. Later, on social media, Team India mocked the fiasco with multiple players including Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma, posting victory photos on Instagram with trophy emojis edited into the frames.
Why the hostilities between both teams?
Early in April this year, several Pakistani-based terrorists killed 26 innocent lives in broad daylight in India’s Kashmir in the most barbaric attack on Indian soil since the 2019 Pulwama bombing.
India retaliated with Operation Sindoor a fortnight later, neutralising countless terror camps across PoK and Pakistan in precise air strikes, leading to heightened cross-border tensions.
Although a mutual agreement led to a ceasefire, the Indian government cut all diplomatic ties with Pakistan; the two countries and their respective boards, however, agreed to honour multi-team commitments, resulting in India and Pakistan sharing the same group and playing thrice in the 2025 Asia Cup.
Despite India and Pakistan facing each other as many as three times in this tournament, the Indian Team boycotted shaking hands with them.
