Champions Without the Handshake: India’s Eighth Asia Cup Win Takes a Political Turn
The Indian women’s team did not receive the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s Interior Minister and PCB chairman.
Xtratime Webdesk: India produced a dominant performance to win the Women’s Asia Cup for a record eighth time, beating Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final. But instead of celebrations being the only talking point, the trophy presentation has once again become a major controversy involving India, Pakistan, ACC president and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
The Indian women’s team did not receive the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s Interior Minister and PCB chairman. The decision was understood to have come from the BCCI, which had already made its position clear before the final. According to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, India was unwilling to accept the trophy from Naqvi and had proposed alternative arrangements for its presentation.
The background to the decision goes beyond this year’s tournament. The same issue had surfaced during last year’s men’s Asia Cup, when the Indian team also refused to collect the trophy from Naqvi. The BCCI has maintained that the political circumstances between India and Pakistan made it unwilling to have Naqvi present the trophy to the team.
The controversy, however, did not end with the presentation ceremony.
Videos from outside the Dubai International Cricket Stadium quickly spread across social media. Some Indian fans were heard chanting “Trophy chor” as Naqvi left the venue. At the same time, a video showing a Pakistani fan praising Naqvi and telling him “Good job, sir” also went viral, with the fan claiming that the Indian team did not deserve the trophy. These contrasting reactions added another layer to an already politically charged episode.
For the Indian team, though, the message has remained simple; the trophy controversy has not taken away from their achievement. Head coach Amol Muzumdar backed the BCCI’s decision, saying the team had completed its job by winning the tournament and was happy to be champions. The players have also moved on from the controversy, with their focus now shifting towards their next assignment.
India may not have lifted the physical trophy on the presentation stage, but they had already done the most important part, winning it on the field.
