After beating Pakistan in the Asia Cup final, India refused to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief, Mohsin Naqvi, who also acts as Pakistan’s Interior Minister.
As a result, the winning team had to celebrate its victory in the tournament without a trophy in a bizzare turn of events. Nearly a month later, the winners have not been handed over the trophy, despite repeated demands from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
It is now understood that the BCCI could seek International Cricket Council (ICC) intervention in the next meeting after failing to get a response from the ACC chief on handing back the trophy.
BCCI wrote an official email asking for the trophy to be handed over last week but hasn’t got any response yet.
Asia Cup Trophy Row Explained
Playing the Asia Cup in the wake of the horrific Pahalgam terrorist attack, the Indian players decided not to exchange any pleasantries with Pakistan in their matches on or off the field.
Suryakumar Yadav, the captain, refused the customary handshake with Salman Ali Agha at the toss, and the entire team reciprocated the gesture after they won the match.
Notably, India and Pakistan faced off thrice in the tournament (including the final), and kept the same attitude throughout. After the final, they, as stated, refused to accept the winner’s trophy from the ACC chief, who also happened to be an acting Pakistan minister.
It is also worth noting that right before the final, Mohsin Naqvi had tweeted a video that seemingly aimed to propagate Pakistan’s claim of having downed six Indian jets.
So after the Indian team refused to accept the trophy from him, they weren’t handed it at all, and as of this writing, it still hasn’t been handed over to them.
