India women's cricket team refuses Asia Cup trophy from ACC chairman Mohsin Naqvi

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. 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. “We discussed the matter among ourselves and decided that we would not accept it (trophy) from him. It was our collective decision. 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. Shukla's comments were in line with BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia's explanation after the final. Saikia had said the Board's stand changed after the 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, while adding that India would continue to play Pakistan in multinational tournaments in line with the government's policy. “Our men’s team won the Asia Cup a year and a half ago. And our whole situation, since the April 2025 Pahalgam incident, changed after that. 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. But our government has a policy that we must play against every country in multinational tournaments,” Saikia had told IANS.

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“But that doesn’t mean we will follow every condition laid out for us. Our military conflict is still ongoing. One of the main leaders who is working against the interests of our country; we can’t receive the trophy from him. The Women’s team has expressed solidarity with the decision taken by the men’s team last year,” Saikia had said. Earlier, pictures had surfaced showing Saikia talking to Naqvi during the Asia Cup final in Dubai. Responding to the criticism over those images, Shukla said it was only a professional interaction during the match. “What Saikia ji said is absolutely correct. When you are at a match, everyone is present there and interacts in a professional capacity. Therefore, I do not think there should be so much criticism over that,” he said.

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