Asian Cricket Council's president Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the chairperson of the Pakistan Cricket Board, will be presenting the trophy at the following the final of Asia Cup 2025. India are scheduled to take on Pakistan in the final of the continental tournament on Sunday, September 28.
With the recent handshake row taking centre stage, it will be interesting to see what the Indian cricket team's stance will be. Nothing concrete has come out as of now. For the unversed, as the head of the administrative
body (ACC), he will be well within his rights to be at the presentation ceremony, engage in customary handshakes and hand out the trophy too.
As per the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) current stance, it seems highly unlikely that they will allow the Indian players to engage with Naqvi. Naqvi's public stance has been anti-India in the wake of the recent terror attacks in Pahalgam. Meanwhile, the BCCI has not come out any instruction However, it remains likely that some instruction could be circulated for the team.
"As of now, information is that he would come this evening and obviously as ACC chairman, he will be giving away the winner's trophy. Let's see what the BCCI decides," a tournament insider was quoted as saying by India Today.
For the unversed, Naqvi had previously lodged a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) on behalf of the PCB against match referee Andy Pycroft for prohibiting the exchange of pleasantries at the toss and after the conclusion of India's clash with Pakistan in the group stage.
After plenty of back and forth, including two separate letters raising the demand to remove Pycroft from the tournament, the ICC categorically denied the Pakistan board's request, noting that Pycroft did not commit any wrongdoing and instead save both the captains from an embarrassing situation.
Meanwhile, Indiawill aim to trump their arch-rivals for the third time in a row on Sunday. They have won their duels against Pakistan at the same venue twice so far, beating them by seven wickets in the group-stage game and by six wickets in the Super Fours.
