Champions Trophy presentation ceremony: Shoaib Akhtar decries lack of Pakistani officials, says ‘feeling very down’

India won the Champions Trophy 2025 by defeating New Zealand at Dubai by 4 wickets. After the match, Indian players were given their customary winners medal and Champions Trophy white coats at the presentation ceremony by ICC officials. While officials like BCCI President Roger Binny, ICC Chairman Jay Shah and others were there, no official from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) – which is the host nation – could be found at the presentation ceremony.

Soon after the match, former Pakistan player Shoabi Akhtar pointed out this anomaly in a video posted on X, saying, “India has won the ICC Champions Trophy. There was one odd thing: no one from the Pakistan Cricket Board during the presentation ceremony. Pakistan is the host of the Champions Trophy, but there was no representative of Pakistan who was standing. No one was there to present the trophy. It is beyond me. Think about it. The tournament was hosted by us, but there was nobody there. Feeling very down to see that,”

India’s Champions Trophy campaign in Dubai:

Although Pakistan were the official hosts of the Champions Trophy, the BCCI decided not to send their players to the neighbouring country for security reasons. While Pakistan retained the hosting rights for the tournament, it was eventually decided that India’s matches would be played in Dubai instead of Karachi, Lahore and other Pakistani cities.

Rohit Sharma’s men played all five of their matches in Dubai during the Champions Trophy, a move that also caused some controversy as the Men in Blue got used to playing under the same conditions while all the other teams had to travel from Pakistan to play them, potentially creating an uneven playing field, critics argued.

In the end, however, Rohit Sharma proved to be the best captain of the tournament, while India were generally dominant with both bat and ball in the final.