Dubai, Oct 1 (UNI) Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi has insisted that India will only receive the Asia Cup trophy if the team collects it from him directly, prolonging the standoff that marred the post-final presentation in Dubai on September 28.
“As ACC President, I was ready to hand over the trophy that very day and I am still ready now,” Naqvi said in a post on X. “If they truly want it, they are welcome to come to the ACC office and collect it from me.”
Naqvi’s remarks followed yesterday’s ACC meeting in Dubai, which he chaired, with the BCCI represented remotely by vice-president Rajeev Shukla and former treasurer Ashish Shelar. No resolution was reached on whether India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, would receive the trophy and the winners’ medals.
The impasse stems from a tense moment after India’s win in the Asia Cup final, when Naqvi, who also serves as PCB chairman and Pakistan’s interior minister, walked onto the podium for the presentation. The Indian team, however, refused to accept the trophy and medals from him, delaying the ceremony by over an hour.
In the end, Kuldeep Yadav, Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma received their individual awards from other dignitaries, while the trophy itself was carried away by an ACC official. The Indian players celebrated on stage but without the silverware.
The controversy capped weeks of strained relations between India and Pakistan during the tournament, with the on-field tensions reflecting the bitterness in the bilateral ties in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, India’s launch of Operation Sindoor cross-border attacks and the four-day military stand-off between the two nations.
During the tournament, Indian players declined to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts before or after the games, a gesture that Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha openly criticised.
Earlier, India captain Suryakumar Yadav was fined 30% of his match fee for remarks following the first clash on September 14, while Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf was fined after provocative gestures in the second encounter on September 21.
India, who eventually defeated Pakistan in the first-ever India-Pakistan Asia Cup final, were left celebrating without their trophy.
With tensions lingering off the field, attention now turns to the women’s game, as India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet in the ongoing ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in Colombo on October 5.
