Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
A victory parade to celebrate the World Cup triumph of the India women’s team appears unlikely at this moment. The BCCI haven’t yet finalised any plans, and to put things in perspective, the cricket board has every reason to be a tad hesitant.
“Nothing like a victory parade is planned as of now,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia was quoted as saying by news agency IANS. Saikia has left for Dubai to attend the ICC meetings. Several other Board officials are expected to be there as well.
People in Mumbai still talk about the open-top bus parade of the Indian men’s team from Marine Drive to Wankhede Stadium after their T20 World Cup win in 2024. On that magical evening, the Queen’s Necklace appeared to have changed its hue and turned blue. Save for a few stray incidents, the whole thing went well. In fact, it was brilliantly organised. Things have changed since.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium tragedy last June is still fresh in everyone’s mind. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s glory march following their maiden IPL success turning tragic and claiming 11 innocent lives, while injuring more than 50 people, is something extremely difficult to get over.
In the wake of the Chinnaswamy tragedy, the BCCI formed a three-member committee headed by Saikia to formulate guidelines to prevent such incidents in the future. It has been made mandatory for all winning teams to secure permissions from relevant authorities and not to rush into organising celebrations.
Indian Women have lifted their maiden ICC World Cup and the BCCI announced a cash reward of Rs 51 crore for the team. But given the backdrop, if the BCCI is a bit wary about organising a victory parade, there are reasons for it. It is learnt that an event might be organised after the ICC meetings.
Asia Cup Trophy
Meanwhile, Saikia said that the BCCI would raise the missing Asia Cup Trophy issue during the ICC meetings from November 4-7. Mohsin Naqvi, the Pakistan Cricket Board chair and the current president of the Asian Cricket Council, refused to hand over the trophy to India after Suryakumar Yadav’s team won it in September.
“We will take up the Asia Cup trophy matter with the ICC and hopefully get our trophy back with the respect and honour it deserves,” said the BCCI secretary.
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