 "Mohsin Naqvi continues to stall the BCCI's efforts to reunite the Indian team with the Asia Cup trophy that rightfully belongs to them. Image: AFP")
The drama surrounding the Asia Cup trophy continues to rage on nearly a month since India defeated Pakistan in the final in Dubai to be crowned Asian T20 champions for the second time in three editions.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the current president of the Asian Cricket Council, has been stalling the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s efforts to reunite the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian T20I team with the trophy that rightfully belongs to them.
Naqvi, after all, had taken the trophy with him to his hotel room after the Men in Blue refused to accept it from him in the post-match presentation ceremony after the final on 28 September. The trophy remains locked in the ACC’s Dubai headquarters since then, with Naqvi ordering it to not be moved without his permission.
BCCI threaten to escalate matter to ICC
The BCCI, who have the support of the Afghanistan (ACB) and Sri Lankan (SLC) cricket boards on the Asia Cup trophy issue, had recently sent a letter to Naqvi in which they had threatened to escalate the matter to the International Cricket Council if the PCB chief refused to co-operate.
“The BCCI secretary (Devajit Saikia), BCCI’s ACC representative Rajeev Shukla and representatives of other member boards including Sri Lanka Cricket and Afghanistan had written to the ACC president last week over handing the trophy to India,” an ACC source was quoted by news agency Press Trust of India as saying.
“But his response was that someone from BCCI should come to Dubai and take the trophy from him. So, that matter has still not moved. BCCI has made its stance clear that it won’t be receiving the trophy from him. So, the matter will most likely be decided in the ICC meeting,” he added.
In his letter to the BCCI, Naqvi alleged that he had not been informed of the Indian players’ refusal to accept the trophy from him during the post-match presentation ceremony, and that they were made to wait for 40 minutes.
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More Shorts“It was only when the Ceremony was about to take place and distinguished guests had taken their place on the stage that the BCCI’s representative conveyed that the Indian Cricket Team would not be receiving the Asia Cup Trophy and awards,” stated the letter.
“The ACC president waited along with the distinguished guests for approximately 40 minutes to ensure that the integrity of the presentation ceremony was preserved and was not adversely affected by politics, but in vain,” it added.
Naqvi asks BCCI to collect Asia Cup trophy from ACC office
Naqvi, who also happens to be Pakistan’s Interior Minister, responded to the strongly-worded letter from the Indian board by asking a BCCI representative to collect the trophy from the ACC’s Dubai headquarters.
“The ACC trophy rightly belongs to the Indian Cricket team and is being held in trust till such time that a BCCI office holder along with any available participating player can collect the same from the ACC President.
“Such collection would of-course be accompanied with much fanfare and coverage as there should be no deviation from established practices and no precedent should be set which undermines the spirit of the game we all love,” it stated.
The BCCI, it has been learnt, has shot down Naqvi’s latest suggestion, meaning that the matter is set to be discussed in an ICC meeting next month. Former BCCI secretary Jay Shah has served as chairman of the governing body for the sport, which is also based in Dubai, since December last year.
The Suryakumar Yadav had refused to shake the hands of Pakistani cricketers throughout their triumphant Asia Cup campaign in solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack as well as the Indian armed forces, who had retaliated against the deadly attack in April by launching ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Naqvi later attempted to mock the Indian armed forces in a controversial social media post that was eventually deleted, but led to a barrage of criticism for the 46-year-old.