The International Cricket Council is set to convene its upcoming quarterly meetings in India, with the chief executives’ committee holding a virtual session on May 21, followed by an in-person ICC Board meeting in Ahmedabad during the Indian Premier League (IPL) final weekend on May 30-31, sources said.
The meetings, originally scheduled for March-April in Doha, Qatar, were rescheduled and relocated to India due to the ongoing West Asia crisis. However, the relocation to Ahmedabad has plunged the nature of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) participation into serious doubt.
Ordinarily, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi would be expected to represent Pakistan in person at the high-profile board meeting. But given the perennially tense relations between the governments of India and Pakistan, as well as their respective cricket boards, administrative sources indicate that Naqvi’s travel across the border remains highly uncertain, casting a significant cloud over his in-person attendance.
MOHSIN NAQVI IN IPL FINAL?
Adding another layer of complexity to the diplomatic puzzle, Pakistani sports network Geo Super, quoting external reports, stated that Naqvi has also received an official invitation to attend the IPL final in Ahmedabad. This development, however, could not be independently verified or confirmed.
Relations between Naqvi and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have remained distinctly frosty since he assumed charge of the Pakistan board. Tensions peaked during a bizarre and unprecedented standoff at the conclusion of the Asia Cup in Dubai, where the victorious Indian team refused to collect the winner’s trophy from Naqvi, who serves as both the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president and Pakistan’s federal interior minister. Following the on-stage impasse, Naqvi left the stadium with the trophy and medals. The physical silverware remains locked away in Dubai under his instructions, with the BCCI subsequently demanding its return and escalating the matter toward the ICC for resolution.
The administrative friction has frequently played out in public rhetoric as well. Naqvi has consistently and publicly asserted that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is on a trajectory to surpass the commercial scale and stature of the IPL—public proclamations that have done little to ease the underlying administrative discomfort between the cross-border neighbors.
With the apex board meeting now scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad alongside the IPL’s flagship weekend, it is currently unknown whether Naqvi will seek the necessary governmental clearances to travel to India or choose the safer alternative of attending the crucial ICC deliberations virtually from back home.
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