Kamran Akmal says Pakistan and world cricket should boycott India after they refuse Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi

Former Pakistani cricketer Kamran Akmal has stated that Pakistan should never play any cricket with India in the aftermath of the huge controversy in the Asia Cup 2025 final. India defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets in a close-fought summit clash to become nine-time Asia Cup champions.

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However, the coldness between the two teams continued, as Suryakumar Yadav had refused to pose with Salman Agha for the captain’s photoshoot ahead of the final, and the no handshake policy continued.

After winning the Asia Cup, the Indian team refused to take their winners’ medals and Asia Cup trophy from PCB chief and ACC chair Mohsin Naqvi. They were eager to take the awards from the UAE cricket vice-president, who was also present at the dais for the presentation ceremony.

However, PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi refused to oblige the Indian team’s demands and walked off the stage and reportedly took the trophy and the medals with him, so that the Indian team had to celebrate their Asia Cup win without a trophy.

‘We should never play against India’: Kamran Akmal urged PCB to declare boycott of BCCI

Former Pakistan player Kamran Akmal has said that PCB should announce immediately that they will never play against India, after the Men in Blue refused to take the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, the interior minister of Pakistan.

“The Pakistan board should immediately say that ‘we should never play against India.’ Let’s see what action ICC takes. What other evidence do you need after this? But the BCCI person is leading the ICC—how will he [Jay Shah] take any action? The other boards have to come together and say we can’t see this in cricket. Sports is not played at anyone’s home. If others don’t play them, then no money is going to come,” Akmal told ARY News.

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“The earlier these things can be controlled, the better for everybody. A neutral body has to be formed without Pakistan and India; make a committee of Australians, South Africans, and New Zealanders, and let them decide on what action to be taken about all that has happened in this tournament.

These cheap harkatein (behaviors) we shall keep seeing from India. We have seen in this tournament they have done as much damage to cricket as they could. PCB and ACC presidents took the right stand—take the trophy or not, it will be given by the president only. India will become the joke of the cricketing world,” Akmal added.

The Indian team’s boycott of pleasantries with the Pakistan team was in response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack, which led to the loss of lives of 26 tourists. That led to Operation Sindoor by the Indian armed forces, where they destroyed 11 airbases in Pakistan.

Akmal urged other cricketing boards to come together and take a stand.

“Just because you are the richest board in the world, you can’t do this ‘badmashi.’ Cricket can’t be run like this. There are other sports in the world; we don’t see such stuff. All the neutral boards should come together. You have to lobby for these issues … We have to see what the cricketing legends of the past, from ours, theirs, the rest of the world, who sit in the commentary box, etc., will say. Will they give a statement on this? On how to stop all this,” Kamran Akmal said.

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