In the Asia Cup final held in Dubai on Sunday, India defeated Sri Lanka by 72 runs. Despite their victory, the Indian team declined to accept the trophy from Naqvi, the event’s presenter.
India beat Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the Asia Cup final in Dubai on Sunday, but the team did not accept the trophy from Naqvi. It was the second year in a row that an Indian team skipped receiving the Asia Cup trophy from the ACC chairman, after the men’s team did the same during the 2025 Asia Cup following the Pahalgam terror attack. And our whole situation, since the April 2025 Pahalgam incident, changed after that.
“Our men’s team won the Asia Cup a year and a half ago.
NEW DELHI: BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Monday said the Indian women’s team’s decision not to receive the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman Mohsin Naqvi was taken collectively by the Board, adding that Naqvi “did not raise any objection” to it. He (Naqvi) also did not raise any objection to it,” Shukla told reporters after arriving with the team at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. “We informed our team accordingly, and he presented it to whoever he had to and then left,” Shukla added, as quoted by news agency PTI. But our government has a policy that we must play against every country in multinational tournaments,” Saikia had told IANS. Responding to the criticism over those images, Shukla said it was only a professional interaction during the match.
“We discussed the matter among ourselves and decided that we would not accept it (trophy) from him. It was our collective decision. Shukla’s comments were in line with BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia’s explanation after the final. So, after that, there was pressure on us from our citizens that we shouldn’t keep any relations with our neighboring country and not play cricket with them.
Earlier, pictures had surfaced showing Saikia talking to Naqvi during the Asia Cup final in Dubai.