The Asia Cup trophy impasse continued for the second year in a row after the victorious Indian women’s team on Sunday refused to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the PCB chairman and a minister in the Pakistan cabinet. India beat Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final to win the continental championship for a record eighth time, but the players did not come out on the field for the post-tournament presentation ceremony.
This led to a delayed start to the presentation, with Naqvi kept waiting on the podium. He eventually handed the runners-up cheque to the Sri Lankan team before leaving the venue.
Despite the appearance of chaos in Dubai, Naqvi was aware of the situation.
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According to a report in The Indian Express, the BCCI had informed ACC officials beforehand that if Naqvi attended the presentation ceremony, the Indian team would not accept the trophy from him.
The decision not to accept the trophy from Naqvi was taken by the BCCI, with the Indian team standing by it.
“India are officially the (Asia Cup) champions. Trophy or no trophy doesn’t matter to us. This is BCCI’s stand (to not take trophy from Naqvi). We can’t say anything on this,” India head coach Amol Muzumdar said in the post-match press conference.
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BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia later revealed that the decision was intended to show solidarity with the men’s team’s stance from last year.
Amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, India’s men’s team refused to shake hands with Pakistan during ACC and ICC tournaments and also declined to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi last year. The women’s team subsequently followed the non-handshake stance in their meetings with Pakistan.
“Our men’s team won the Asia Cup a year and a half ago. And our whole situation, since the April 2025 Pahalgam incident, changed after that. So, after that, there was pressure on us from our citizens that we shouldn’t keep any relations with our neighbouring country and not play cricket with them. But our government has a policy that we must play against every country in multinational tournaments…” Saikia told IANS after the match, as quoted by Sportstar.
“But that doesn’t mean we will follow every condition laid out for us. Our military conflict is still ongoing. One of the main leaders who is working against the interests of our country; we can’t receive the trophy from him. The Women’s team has expressed solidarity with the decision taken by the men’s team last year.”
India, however, held their own medal presentation ceremony on the field in the presence of Saikia and BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla, after which the players left the ground.
Naqvi, too, left the stadium immediately after presenting the award to Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu. Unlike last year, however, he left without carrying the trophy.