Back in the day, not too far back though, in September 2025, when Mohsin Naqvi fled with the Asia Cup trophy, he was enraged at the title-winning Indian team’s decision to not collect the piece of silverware from him. Four months down the line, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair has taken grave exception to the ICC’s decision to replace the sniveller Bangladesh, over the safety and security issues in India, with Scotland at the upcoming T20 World Cup.
What Pakistan has got to do with Bangladesh’s ouster when they are playing all their matches in Sri Lanka is anyone’s guess. Mohsin Naqvi Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai could be a good sequel, 46 years after Saeed Mirza came up with the original — a critically acclaimed socio-political drama. But Naqvi saab revels in being the chatty man (not in a friendly way) when it comes to India or the ICC that has an Indian at its helm. A gentle reminder, Jay Shah was unanimously elected as the ICC chair.
Last Saturday, after the ICC formalised Scotland’s inclusion at the expense of Bangladesh, Naqvi picked a platform in Lahore to pontificate that ICC was biased. “Our stance (regarding World Cup participation) will be what the government of Pakistan instructs me,” he parped before delivering the sucker punch: “You can’t have double standards. You can’t say for one country (India) they can do whatever they want and for the others to have to do the complete opposite.”
Two days later, after meeting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the PCB boss set a February 2 deadline to confirm Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup. Kudos to Naqvi for providing unadulterated comic relief to the degree of even wowing Iceland Cricket. Going beyond the ongoing Greenland “dispute”, Denmark’s neighbour, came up with a post to mock Pakistan’s flip-flops.
“It is with a heavy heart that we now announce our unavailability to replace Pakistan in the upcoming T20 World Cup,” Iceland Cricket posted on its X (formerly Twitter) handle. “Regardless of whether they now withdraw, the short timescales ensure it is impossible for our squad to prepare in the professional manner necessary to compete effectively in this global cricketing spectacle. We are not like Scotland and able to turn up on a whim, with no kit sponsor.”
It added: “Our players are from all walks of life and cannot simply drop their occupations to fly halfway around the world to experience temperatures only normally felt in Finnish saunas. Our captain, a professional baker, needs to attend to his oven, our ship captain needs to steer his vessel, and our bankers need to go bankrupt (again). This is the harsh reality of cricket at the amateur level of the game.”
Finally, an all the best message to Uganda, the country that is in line to replace Pakistan should Naqvi fuse Bangladesh into a single brotherhood and refrain from sending a team to the ICC showpiece. “Our loss is likely Uganda’s gain. We wish them well. Their kits cannot be missed unless you have epilepsy, in which case they are probably best avoided,” the post signed off.
Even by Iceland Cricket’s lofty sarcastic standards, it was blazingly brilliant.
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