Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan's Interior Minister and acting chairman of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), refused to present Asia Cup 2025 trophy to the winning team on Sunday, when Men in Blue declined to receive medals from him. The Dubai International Cricket Stadium witnessed drama after India clinched the Asia Cup title by thrashing Pakistan by five wickets in the final match.
After the conclusion of the match, events between the Indian staff and Pakistanis erupted into major controversies. After Tilak Verma's winning shot, Indian players, along with their families, rushed to the middle of the stadium, including Indian Captain Suryakumar Yadav’s wife Devisha, head coach Gautam Gambhir’s wife and daughters were also present.
It was reported that BCCI had informed their ACC representative that the Indian team would not accept the trophy and medals from Pakistan's Naqvi, who earlier tweeted anti-India.
Post Operation Sindoor, Naqvi had posted cryptic videos related to Cristiano Ronaldo’s plane crash celebration, referencing Pakistani claims that six Indian jets were downed. He also argued with ICC to charge Suryakumar Yadav with a Level 4 offence for supporting the Indian Army and showing solidarity with the Pahalgam terror attack victims.
However, the Indian Cricket Team maintained a ‘no handshake’ policy with Pakistan throughout the tournament. For the first hour of the delayed presentation, none of the Pakistani players were present for the ceremony.
It was learned that the Indian team wanted to accept the trophy from someone other than Naqvi. Dubai Sports City’s Khalid Al Zarooni, who was also on stage, was even expected to present the Asia Cup to India. However, due to BCCI’s clear stance, the Indian players refused to go up on stage while Naqvi was present, and the PCB chairman did not budge.
“BCCI would have lodged an official protest if Naqvi had tried to forcefully hand over the trophy," a senior BCCI official told PTI anonymously. In this context, post-match presenter Simon Doull announced the individual sponsors’ awards, as acknowledging the event’s stakeholders and investors as mandatory.
After the individual awards were given out and the Pakistan team collected their prizes from Bangladesh Cricket Board president Aminul Islam Bulbul, Doull declared, “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."
As Naqvi exited the podium and headed towards the gate, the ACC event staff surprisingly walked away with the trophy, leaving everyone bewildered.
BCB president Bulbul, known to be a close ally of Naqvi (the last ACC meeting that BCCI skipped was held in Dhaka), informed the media outside the stadium that the prize distribution ceremony had to be abruptly called off due to India’s refusal.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said that the Indian team and support staff decided not to take the Asia Cup 2025 trophy from the ACC chairman. He also requested Naqvi to return the Championship trophy and individual medals promptly.
“But that does not mean that the gentleman will take away the trophy with him, along with the medals. So it is very unfortunate and we hope that the trophy and the medals will be returned to India as soon as possible," Saikia said.