IMAGE: BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia with ACC Chairman Mohsin Naqvi in the stands during the Asia Cup final on Sunday, September 13, 2026. Photograph: X

Key Points

• The Indian women's cricket team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council Chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
• The men's team also declined to accept the trophy from Naqvi last year.
• BCCI Secretary DevajitSaikia stated that the trophy has become a 'controversial thing' due to public pressure against maintaining relations with Pakistan after the April, 22 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack.

The victorious Indian women's cricket on Sunday refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, the Asian Cricket Council chairman, extending the Asia Cup trophy impasse.

Harmanpreet Kaur-led India defeated Sri Lanka by 72 runs in Dubai to lift their record-extending eighth Asia Cup title, but the players did not come out on the field for post-tournament presentation ceremonies.

After waiting for about 30 minutes, Naqvi was seen leaving the ground without completing the formalities.

Last year, the men's team refused to accept the trophy from the ACC chair, who is also Pakistan's interior minister.

'Trophy is a controversial thing in the Asia Cup,' BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia told the IANS news agency. Our men's team won the Asia Cup a year ago. And our whole situation, since the April 2025 Pahalgam incident, the entire situation changed after that.'

'So, after that, there was pressure on us from all our country's 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...'

The Public Reaction

After the match, Indian women's cricket team Head Coach Amol Muzumdar said the side fully supports the BCCI stand of not accepting the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi and winning the tournament is 'good enough' for the players.

During the Asia Cup final on Sunday, the cameras panned to the guest box at the Dubai international stadium and showed Saikia in conversation with Naqvi.

When asked about it, Saikia told The Times of India newspaper that meeting Naqvi was simply a courtesy.

'It's not as if we wouldn't meet anyone. Everyone who came met me during the match. Someone sat next to me, then Shukla (Rajeev Shukla, the BCCI vice-president who celebrated his birthday on Sunday) came and sat with me. Naqvi also came and sat alongside Deputy Chairman Khalid Sahib.'

Fans questioned the BCCI's two-faced behaviour on X, calling out the drama.