Women’s team’s refusal to accept Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi BCCI's call: coach
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia says women’s team meant to show solidarity with men’s team who had refused to accept trophy from Naqvi last year in protest against Pahalgam terror attack
The Indian women’s cricket team’s refusal to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman and chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board, on Sunday (September 13) was a call taken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the team’s head coach Amol Muzumdar has clarified.
Déjà vu moment
A déjà vu moment unfolded at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday when the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team, after defeating Sri Lanka by 72 runs, refused to come out on the field for the post-tournament presentation ceremony.
A similar moment was seen at the same venue last year when the men’s team declined to receive the Asia Cup trophy and medals from Naqvi, also the interior minister of Pakistan, in protest against the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed and for which India blames Pakistan.
Also read: Indian women’s cricket team refuses to accept Asia Cup trophy from ACC chief Naqvi
The Indian team is yet to receive the Asia Cup trophy, which has since been kept in the ACC office.
Instead, the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian outfit conducted an impromptu celebration on the dais without the physical prize.
‘Women’s team happy with title’
Muzumdar said the women’s team was happy to have won the title and simply followed the governing body’s decision not to accept the trophy.
“That stand has been taken by BCCI, and we stand by it. For us, this tournament is over. We are the champions. That's good enough. It was on the big board that India are champions of Asia Cup 2026. This tournament is officially over for us. We are happy that we have turned out to be champions. Now, we look forward to the Asian Games," India Today quoted Muzumdar as saying at the post-match press conference.
Women’s team refused to come to field
Reports said Naqvi was seated alongside BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla and secretary Devajit Saikia when the match was underway.
After India won the match, Shukla and Saikia joined the Indian team and Muzumdar to celebrate. At that time, Naqvi was interacting with other dignitaries on the field.
However, the presentation was delayed by almost an hour as the Indian women’s team members did not even return to the ground.
India conducted its own medal presentation on the sidelines of the event. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia presented Nandini Sharma with an in-house best fielder medal.
Also read: Asia Cup 2025: Cold response to India-Pakistan match, and there is a reason
The Sri Lankan team received the runners-up cheque from Naqvi, and before that all the players and support staff accepted medals from SLC interim chief Eran Wikramaratne.
Naqvi left the stadium immediately after presenting the award to Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu, but unlike last year he moved away without carrying the trophy.
Solidarity with men’s team: BCCI secretary
Saikia later told the media that the decision to not accept the trophy from Naqvi was meant to show solidarity with the men’s team.
“Our men’s team won the Asia Cup a year and a half ago. And our whole situation, since the April 2025 Pahalgam incident, changed after that. So, after that, there was pressure on us from our citizens that we shouldn’t keep any relations with our neighbouring country and not play cricket with them. But our government has a policy that we must play against every country in multinational tournaments...” IANS quoted him as saying.
Also read: Asia Cup: Pakistan slams Modi’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ remark after India's win
“But that doesn’t mean we will follow every condition laid out for us. Our military conflict is still ongoing. One of the main leaders is working against the interests of our country; we can’t receive the trophy from him. The women’s team has expressed solidarity with the decision taken by the men’s team last year. It doesn’t diminish the performances of our team. We have won all our matches in a one-sided manner. Women’s cricket has been growing so well in India and there’s no bigger evidence of that than this. Our whole planning is geared towards the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup,” he added.