All eyes were on the ICC Board meet in Dubai on Friday as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia was expected to raise the Asia Cup trophy matter. The issue, however, was neither raised at the Chief Executives Committee (CEC) meet earlier this week nor at the Board meet. It wasn’t part of any official agenda and never came up for a formal discussion during the last few days in Dubai.It is learned that there were some informal discussions on the sidelines of the Board meet where Saikia pointed out that India, the winners of 2025 Asia Cup, are yet to get the trophy. While Saikia was representing the Indian cricket board, Mohsin Naqvi represented the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).There was a lot of suspense around Naqvi’s attendance for the meet but, as TimesofIndia.com had reported earlier, the PCB chief reached Dubai just an hour before the formal Board meet was about to get underway. It is further understood that the Board members had lengthy informal discussions before the official session but Naqvi skipped that as he left for Dubai only on Friday morning. He was scheduled to stay in Dubai overnight and the feeling in the room was that the trophy impasse could end soon.
“There were no heated arguments or anything. The matter was brought up during an informal discussion and both PCB and BCCI would work towards resolving it at the earliest. Whether it needs intervention from ICC – by forming a committee or something – is not decided at this stage, but it was all very healthy and cordial,” says an administrator who attended the meetings in Dubai this week.“Yes there were serious doubts whether Mr Mohsin Naqvi would come for the Board meet but once he came, routine followed and the trophy matter was only discussed on the sidelines,” he added.TimesofIndia.com reached out to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia for a comment and the story will be updated the moment he responds.
