Mohsin Naqvi firm on Asia Cup Trophy handover despite India build pressure

ISLAMABAD: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has to receive the Asia Cup Trophy through the same protocols that used to be followed until the 2025 tournament, said Asia Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the ACC chairman, who is also chairing the PCB currently, told media personnel in Karachi that the BCCI officials contacted the ACC officials, asking for the Asia Cup Trophy handover.

Upon briefing received from the ACC officials, the ACC chief while responding to the BCCI and other ACC board members said that the Asian cricketing body has already informed the Indian board about a formal ceremony in Dubai on December 10 where India will receive their trophy.

India refused to collect their Asia Cup Trophy at the closing ceremony in September following the Pakistan-India four-day aerial war that ended in a Trump-brokered ceasefire on May 10.

Defending champions India gained a 5-wicket victory over Pakistan in the last-over thriller to claim the Asia Cup final title. But the Indian team’s skipper Yadav did not like to receive the trophy from Naqvi, leading the ceremony into a farce.

Not only this, there were no handshakes too, especially at the innings-deciding time.

Pakistan captain Salman Agha said India had “disrespected cricket,” whereas his counterpart Suryakumar Yadav complained his side was denied the trophy after winning the Asia Cup, which has been overshadowed by ill-will on both sides.

Just a few days after the incident, Naqvi posted on social media app X, saying, “If they truly want it, they are welcome to come to the ACC office and collect it from me.”

The Press Trust of India reported today that the cricket boards of Afghanistan and Sri Lanka backed BCCI’s correspondence to Naqvi.

“A top ACC source told PTI that Naqvi has insisted that a BCCI representative collect the trophy from him at the body’s headquarters in Dubai, but the Indian board has rejected that stance,” PTI said.

“The BCCI will bring this matter up in an ICC meeting next month.”

“BCCI’s ACC official Rajeev Shukla and representatives hailing from Sri Lanka Cricket and the Afghanistan cricketing body wrote a letter to the ACC’s Naqvi last week, calling him for handing the title to India,” sources close to ACC said.

The eight-nation Asia Cup remained under the spotlight due to political strains between India and Pakistan, the nuclear-armed neighbours who were competing in Asia Cup Trophy event four months after a brief but intense military conflict in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 local tourists in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Yadav was widely criticised for politicising the Asia Cup when he mentioned in his first match triumph interview that the match was dedicated to the Indian armed forces and the people who died in the Pahalgam incident on April 22.