India do it again, snub Mohsin Naqvi as Asia Cup trophy row erupts online

It seems like deja vu in Dubai as India have done it again. After the men’s team refused to collect the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council president Mohsin Naqvi last year, the women’s team followed suit on Sunday, declining to receive the trophy after beating Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final. The trophy presentation was delayed, with India ultimately leaving without collecting their winners’ medals or trophy.

The repeat of last year’s episode quickly became a talking point online, with social-media users posting memes and comments about India once again refusing to accept the trophy from Naqvi.

The episode came despite India’s dominant campaign, which ended with their record-extending eighth Women’s Asia Cup title. India’s head coach Amol Muzumdar said the decision had been taken by the BCCI and that the team stood by it, while the BCCI later confirmed that the board had informed the ACC beforehand that India would not accept the trophy from Naqvi.

‘We cannot accept a trophy from the hands of one of their main leaders’

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said India’s women’s team decided not to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council president Naqvi in ‘solidarity’ with the men’s team.

Saikia said the decision came against the backdrop of deteriorating India-Pakistan relations following the Pahalgam attack in April 2025. While the Indian government’s policy requires the team to play all countries in multinational tournaments, he said that did not mean India had to accept all conditions associated with such engagements.

“With a country where our relations were already strained and have deteriorated significantly since April 2025 … we cannot accept a trophy from the hands of one of their main leaders who is working against our nation,” Saikia said. He added that the women’s team had chosen to “uphold that solidarity” with the men’s side by refusing the trophy under the same circumstances.

Saikia stressed that the decision did not detract from the team’s performance, saying India had won every match of the tournament and beaten Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final. He described the campaign as “a matter of great pride” and said it demonstrated the rapid rise of women’s cricket in India.

He pointed to India’s recent successes, including winning the ICC 50-over World Cup last November and defeating England in a Test at Lord’s, while noting that the team would next target gold at the Asian Games. Saikia said the BCCI’s broader focus was already on the 2028 ICC T20 World Cup.

He also dismissed the significance of India not physically taking the trophy home, saying the team’s performance was what mattered. “Whether we physically brought the trophy home in our hands or not … that doesn’t matter,” he said, adding that the team had “reached the top” and that was the biggest reason to celebrate.

X was filled with different sentiments with the Indian side insisting that the trophy should have been provided by someone else, giving it a political tinge as Naqvi was present on the stage in the capacity of Asian Cricket Council president while one side maintained that the team should have accepted the trophy without dragging politics on the pitch.

One user felt that the team refused to accept the trophy out of fear of backlash:

Former ambassador Mansoor Ahmad Khan also echoed similar sentiments:

Pakistanis of course brought forward their humourous takes