India refuse to collect trophy from ACC chief Naqvi after winning Women's Asia Cup
Islamabad: India again dragged politics in sports as it again refused to accept a tournament trophy from Asian Cricket Council President Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday, with their women’s team this time throwing the closing ceremony into uncertainty and delay.
The trophy presentation at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium was delayed by more than half an hour after India secured a 72-run victory over Sri Lanka in the final, Hindustan Times reported.
Naqvi, also the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and the country’s interior minister, stood on the stage as the audience waited for India to collect their trophy.
The presentation ceremony wrapped up “without the Indian team collecting their winners’ medals or the trophy”. Live visuals from the stadium confirmed the same.
However, Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu picked up the runners-up cheque from Naqvi, the outlet added.
Asked whether his team’s refusal to accept the trophy was “pre-decided”, head coach Amol Muzumdar said the “stand has been taken by the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), and we stand by it”.
Asked whether the trophy will end with the same fate as the men’s trophy from last year, Muzumdar said, “No news as yet. So I cannot answer that.”
On a query about the decision impacting sportsmanship, the coach reiterated that the team stood by the BCCI’s stance and that the tournament was “officially over” for them.
Sunday’s scenes illustrated a replay of the events of October last year, when India refused to collect the trophy at the closing ceremony of the Men’s Asia Cup final as tensions from their May 2025 military conflict spilt over into the cricket field.
There were also no customary handshakes between the teams after India refused to do so, with tensions high from their previous two clashes in the competition, which witnessed political posturing and aggressive on-field behaviour.
Reacting to the development, Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry said India’s “diplomatic defeat and military defeat will not be erased” by refusing to accept the trophy.
Chaudhry said New Delhi had “filled jingoism in their entire nation”. “Our sports culture, which was a symbol of peace and love and which ended many wars, has been eroded.”
The state minister asserted that Pakistan had not “politicised” sports or made it the target of conflict between the two countries, and was open to dialogue on “every controversial issue”.
Earlier, Shree Charani’s fantastic four-wicket haul helped India crush Sri Lanka by 72 runs to lift the Asia Cup title for the eighth time. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma both towered the innings with 59 and 68 runs, respectively, as the Indian team managed to post 185 runs on the board in the allotted 20 overs with five wickets to spare. Charani, outracing Deepti Sharma, who grabbed three wickets, dismantled the Sri Lankan lineup, with only Athapaththu, Vishmi Gunaratne, and Nilakshi de Silva entering the double figures. The whole Sri Lankan team bowled out for just 111 runs in 19.5 overs.
