'Will get both our trophies back,' asserts BCCI after not accepting silverware from ACC chief Mohsin Naqvi

MUMBAI: A familiar script has repeated itself. And ironically, at the same venue - the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Almost 12 months after Suryakumar Yadav's victorious Indian team came home without the Asia Cup Trophy, refusing to accept it from Mohsin Naqvi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, who is currently heading the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Pakistan's interior minister, Harmanpreet Kaur & Co did an encore after clinching the 2026 Women's Asia Cup in Dubai, shunning the trophy ceremony on Sunday night due to the presence of Naqvi on the stage.Like in case of the men's team, the women's team too returned home empty - despite triumphing in the Asia Cup women's championship in style, winning all their five matches, including recording a thumping 72-run win over Sri Lanka in a one-sided final on Sunday.Naqvi showed up at the stadium minutes before the last ball was bowled and insisted on presenting the winners' trophy himself, despite being told by the BCCI authorities clearly that the Indian women's team would not accept the trophy from him. It was a repeat show of what the Indian men's team did on September 28 last year. The brief and delayed presentation ceremony eventually concluded without the winners receiving their prize.There were behind-the-scenes discussions over the post-match formalities, with the BCCI proposing that ACC vice-president Khalid Al Zarooni could present the trophy. However, Naqvi did not relent. He stood on the podium and handed the runners-up cheque to the Sri Lankan team. Al Zarooni, Sri Lanka Cricket Transformation Committee head Eran Wickramaratne, Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) secretary general Mubashir Usmani and a female representative of DP World, the title sponsor of the Asia Cup, were among those on the podium.BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and vice-president Rajeev Shukla were present in the stadium but they did not go up on the dais or share the stage with Naqvi. There were visuals of Saikia and Shukla speaking cordially with Naqvi in the Royal Box that went viral. They spoke to Team Indian on the ground, presented them medals and congratulated them on their record-extending eighth Asia Cup title. "At some point, we would get both our Asia Cup trophies back," Saikia asserted, while talking to TOI from Dubai.Explaining India's uncompromising stand regarding not receiving the trophy from Naqvi, Saikia told this paper, "We had taken a conscious decision considering all prevailing aspects, and our position had been communicated to the ACC in advance, that the Indian team would not participate in the trophy presentation under the circumstances.Our participation in the Asia Cup was in fulfilment of our sporting commitments as a member of the Asian Cricket Council by adhering to the policy in place, and there was never any question of compromising on the spirit of the game or our commitment to international cricket.However, participation in a multinational tournament and the manner in which the trophy is presented or received are two separate and distinct issues.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.