The Asia Cup trophy impasse continued for the second time in a row after the Indian team on Sunday refused to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi.
In a similar development earlier, the Indian men’s team had also refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi at the same venue in Dubai.
Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and a minister in the Pakistan cabinet, reportedly waited on the podium before eventually handing the trophy to the Sri Lankan team and leaving the venue after the Indian team refused to come up for the presentation ceremony.
According to reports, the BCCI had informed ACC officials well in advance that India would not accept the trophy if Naqvi attended the presentation ceremony. The decision was taken by the BCCI, with the Indian team abiding 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 the trophy from Naqvi. We can’t say anything on this,” India head coach Amol Muzumdar said at the post-match press conference.
The Indian team later held its own medal presentation ceremony on the field in the presence of Saikia and BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla after the players returned to the ground. Naqvi also left the stadium soon after presenting the award to Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia later revealed that the decision was taken to show solidarity with the Indian men’s team’s stance from last year.
“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 said during a media interaction.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated following the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025. The Indian men’s team last year refused to shake hands with Pakistan during ACC and ICC tournaments and also declined to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi.