ICC Champions Trophy 2017: PCB Chairman manhandled after Pakistan beats India

Najam Sethi was at The Oval for the India-Pakistan final

What’s the story?

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Najam Sethi, was reportedly manhandled by a group of PTI supporters right after the India vs Pakistan final of the ICC Champions Trophy. To confirm the same, he tweeted that he was ‘pushed’ and ‘shoved’ by these supporters before the police got him to safety.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters were allegedly shouting slogans throughout the length of the match and many eyewitnesses confirmed to seeing them hauling the PCB chief.

Also read: World reacts to the India v Pakistan final

In case you didn’t know...

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 18: Pakistan celebrate after winning the ICC Champions Trophy Final between India and Pakistan at The Kia Oval on June 18, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) — Pakistan beat India to lift their maiden Champions Trophy title

Pakistan took on India in their first ever final of the tournament and beat their arch-rivals by a comprehensive margin of 180 runs. Pakistan were the lowest-ranked team in the tournament but on Sunday, they absolutely clobbered past the defending champions in the match.

PTI is a political party founded by former Pakistan captain Imran Khan.

Also read: Virat Kohli defends Hardik Pandya

The details

Here are Sethi’s tweets confirming the same:

I was manhandled pushed and shoved by a small group of PTI supporters. Police pulled me to safety. Overwhelming love and affection though. https://t.co/67ZThw28FT
— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) June 18, 2017

That is correct. https://t.co/wpfmKHcHCO
— Najam Sethi (@najamsethi) June 18, 2017

The above tweet was in reply to Murtaza Ali Shah’s tweet that said:

Several journalists & eyewitnesses confirm a group chanting pro-PTI slogans was involvd in manhandling @najamsethi outside Oval #PakVsIndia
— Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaGeoNews) June 18, 2017

This clearly shows that the PCB chairman wasn’t expecting this turn of events and thus, expressed his resentment towards it by resorting to Twitter.

What’s next?

The PCB chairman was immediately escorted to safety by the security at The Oval and has not suffered any physical harm. It does not seem like any action would be taken against the perpetrators, considering the huge number of people that were present at the ground yesterday.

Also read: 5 things India did wrong in the ICC Champions Trophy final

Author’s take:

It is extremely saddening to see Pakistan’s inspirational victory to be smudged by things like this. Captain Sarfraz Ahmed worked hard on his team to lead them to the trophy after their embarrassing defeat against India in their tournament opener.

Fakhar Zaman batted with zest whenever he got the opportunity while Hassan Ali was the highest wicket-taker of the tournament. These players and their support staff deserve the limelight and it should not be snatched from them due to off-field antics.