Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi will not attend the International Cricket Council’s annual board meeting on the day of the Indian Premier League 2026 final in Ahmedabad, a recent development has confirmed. Naqvi was invited for the meeting nearly a month ago but he will not be there in person.
Instead, Mohsin Naqvi will attend the crucial May 31 session virtually. A wide range of topics, including some changes in rules, will be discussed in the meeting.
Naqvi’s decision to join via video conference aligns with ICC protocols, which does permit remote participation for members who are unable to travel. This meeting was originally slated to take place in Doha, Qatar but owing to the tension in the Middle-East between US-Israel and Iran, Ahmedabad was thrown in as a potential replacement.
Almost every board member of the ICC is expected to attend the meeting except Mohsin Naqvi. The officials will also be made to watch the IPL 2026 final between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans in what is going to be an absolute spectacle at the world’s largest cricket stadium.
Meanwhile, Mohsin Naqvi’s absence highlights the ongoing administrative disputes of India and Pakistan. The two nations have not played any bilateral cricket in over a decade due to the rising tensions near the border areas.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has banned Pakistani players from featuring in the IPL and after last year’s Pahalgam attack, things have gotten worse. Team India refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts during the Asia Cup 2025 and ICC T20 World Cup earlier this year.
And Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan’s Interior Minister and Asian Cricket Council’s president, was at the heart of this controversy when he refused to hand India the Asia Cup title last year in September.
The ICC board meeting is expected to start in the afternoon and conclude by the time IPL 2026 final begins at 7:30PM.
