The Asia Cup trophy impasse continued for the second year in a row after the victorious Indian women’s cricket team on Sunday did not accept the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman from Pakistan. Dubai witnessed another Asia Cup trophy drama. Harmanpreet Kaur -led India defeated Sri Lanka by 72 runs to lift their record-extending eighth Asia Cup title, but the players did not come out onto the field for the post-tournament presentation ceremony.
“India are officially the (Asia Cup) champions. Trophy or no trophy doesn’t matter to us. This is BCCI’s stand (to not take the trophy from Naqvi). The Indian team is yet to receive the Asia Cup trophy, which has since been kept at the ACC office. Instead, the Suryakumar Yadav -led Indian outfit conducted an impromptu celebration on the dais without the physical prize. However, this time, the Indian women’s team members did not even return to the ground after BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia presented Nandini Sharma with the team’s in-house Best Fielder medal. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan team received the runners-up cheque from Naqvi, and before that, all the players and support staff received medals from SLC interim chief Eran Wickramaratne. Players from both sides, men and women, now follow a no-handshake protocol whenever they meet at Asian or global events conducted by the ICC. With PTI inputs
We can’t say anything on this,” India head coach Amol Muzumdar said at the post-match press conference.
It may be recalled that the Indian men’s team last year declined to receive the Asia Cup trophy and medals from Naqvi, who heads the Pakistan Cricket Board and is also the Interior Minister of that country. 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. Diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan have remained frozen since last year’s Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor.
