Indian women’s cricket team; (right) Mohsin Naqvi© AFP
What happened at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday night was rare, yet it was not occurring for the first time. For the second year running, the victorious team in the Asia Cup did not get the trophy. On both occasions, it was the Indian cricket team. While in 2025 it was the men’s team, in 2026 it was the women’s team. Back in 2025, the Indian team refused to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi, also the Pakistan interior minister, after beating Pakistan in the final. In 2026, a similar scene was repeated at the same venue (Dubai) by the Indian women’s team.
Former India player Aakash Chopra took a dig at Naqvi over the whole fiasco.
“Indian women have become Asia Cup champions for the eighth time. But once again, they haven’t received the trophy. The men’s team didn’t get the trophy either. You know why, right? Mohsin Naqvi came along. Whenever he comes, he runs away with the trophy. The Indian team doesn’t take the trophy from him. And we all know it,” Chopra said.
“We knew that India had won eight out of 10 tournaments. So we already knew that India was going to win this tournament. Then how did we end up here? I still can’t understand why we can’t figure out something. If this is going to happen again and again, why do we even play the Asia Cup?” he added.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla said the decision not to accept the Women’s Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi following their tournament victory in Dubai was something they decided after thorough discussion.
“We discussed the trophy issue and decided not to take it from him. He didn’t object to it, and we told our team. They gave whatever they had and left. There was no quarrel, no fight, no clash, and what (Devajit) Saikia ji said is right. When you sit in a match, everyone sits and meets there. It doesn’t mean that you have to criticise them hugely. When you sit in a match, everyone sits there and meets all people from various countries,” Shukla told reporters after returning from Dubai.
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