India women refuse Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, repeat men’s team stance

India's women's cricket team refused to collect the Women's Asia Cup trophy from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday, causing confusion and a delay in the closing ceremony. The match against Sri Lanka ended with a dominant 72-run victory for India, but the trophy presentation was delayed by over half an hour as the Indian team did not come forward to accept the prize.

Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and Pakistan's interior minister, stood on the stage as the audience waited for India to collect their trophy. However, the presentation ceremony wrapped up without the Indian team collecting their winners' medals or the trophy. Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu, however, picked up the runners-up cheque from Naqvi.

The final ball was bowled by 9:55pm UAE time (10:55pm PKT), but by 10:30pm (11:30pm PKT), there were no signs of the presentation ceremony starting, according to Hindustan Times. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was immediately interviewed by broadcasters, even though such interviews are typically reserved for the end of the presentation ceremony.

Head coach Amol Muzumdar stated that the decision not to accept the trophy was taken by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and that his team stood by it. "For us, this tournament is over. We are the champions; that’s good enough," Muzumdar said at a post-match press conference in Dubai. He reiterated that the team would not collect the trophy, emphasizing that the tournament was officially over for them.

This incident echoes a similar situation from the Men's Asia Cup final in October last year, when India also refused to collect the trophy. At that time, tensions from a military conflict between the two nations had spilled over into the cricket field. Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry criticized India's decision, saying it was destroying the sports culture and called for dialogue on controversial issues.