Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, who walked away with the Asia Cup trophy even though India won the title, was strongly condemned by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia. While Suryakumar Yadav and his team defeated Pakistan on Sunday, the trophy was never presented to them.
Why was the trophy missing?
Team India refused to accept the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, who is the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and Pakistan’s Interior Minister. Naqvi remained adamant about presenting the trophy, and when Team India declined, he left the ground with the trophy and took it to his hotel.
What did Saikia say?
“India is fighting a war with a country, and a leader belonging to that country was supposed to hand over the trophy to us… We cannot accept a trophy from a person who represents a country that is waging a war against our country. So, we have refused to take that trophy, but that does not mean that the gentleman will take the trophy and the medals, which are to be given to our country, to his own hotel room. That is totally unexpected, and we hope that his good sense will prevail. We are going to lodge a very strong protest against the behaviour of the gentleman in today’s prize distribution ceremony,” Saikia said.
He added, “We have decided not to take the Asia Cup 2025 trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main leaders of Pakistan. But that does not mean that the gentleman will take away the trophy with him, along with the medals. It is very unfortunate and unsportsmanlike, and we hope that the trophy and the medals will be returned to India as soon as possible.”
What did Suryakumar Yadav say?
Expressing his disappointment, Suryakumar Yadav said this was the first time he had seen a champion team being denied a trophy. He stressed that India’s Asia Cup win was hard-earned, with the team competing since September 4, and every player deserved the trophy. However, he added that for him, beyond the silverware, his teammates were the real trophies — the ones he cherished the most from this tournament.