The Asia Cup 2025 final in Dubai ended in drama off the field as much as on it. After defeating Pakistan by five wickets in a nail-biting finish, the Indian cricket team refused to accept the winner’s trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan’s Interior Minister and PCB chairman.
Why India Refused the Trophy
According to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, the team stood firm in its decision:
“𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂 𝑪𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑪𝑪 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏,” 𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒌𝒊𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑨𝑵𝑰. “𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆.”
The incident has created ripples ahead of the ICC conference scheduled for November in Dubai, where India plans to lodge a strong protest against the ACC chairman’s actions.
Presentation Ceremony in Disarray
The match concluded around 10.30 pm Dubai time, but the presentation ceremony did not begin until nearly midnight. Speculation mounted that the delay was due to India’s refusal to accept the trophy from Naqvi.
When the ceremony finally started, Indian players Kuldeep Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, and Tilak Varma collected individual awards from other dignitaries, deliberately avoiding Naqvi. Pakistan captain Salman Agha, however, did receive the runners-up cheque from him.
Host presenter Simon Doull confirmed during the live broadcast:
“𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑺𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.”
Suryakumar Yadav Reacts
Speaking at the post-match press conference, India captain Suryakumar Yadav admitted the situation was unprecedented:
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕—𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚. 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 14 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒂 𝑪𝒖𝒑 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚.”
The team later celebrated on the podium by lifting an “imaginary trophy,” sending a strong message of unity despite the absence of the official silverware.
Growing Tensions Between India and Pakistan
The refusal was not entirely unexpected. Throughout the tournament, Indian players had avoided handshakes with their Pakistani counterparts at tosses and after matches. Heated exchanges, especially in the Super Fours clash, further heightened the rivalry. Both sides faced fines for verbal altercations during the tournament.
While Pakistan’s coach Mike Hesson and captain Salman Agha criticized India’s stance, the Indian side remained resolute. The Asia Cup may be over, but the political and cricketing tensions between the two nations seem set to intensify.
Also Read: Salman Agha Slams India for ‘Disrespecting Cricket’
