India Refuses To Accept Asia Cup Trophy from Pakistan Minister

In a dramatic turn after India’s Asia Cup 2025 triumph, the team refused to accept the winners’ trophy and medals from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairperson Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan’s Interior Minister and the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, speaking from Mumbai, made it clear that the decision was deliberate. “We cannot accept a trophy from a person who represents a country waging a war against ours,” he said, while condemning Naqvi’s act of walking away with the trophy and medals after the presentation ceremony.

The controversy unfolded during the post-match presentation. While Pakistan collected their runners-up medals and Indian stars Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma received their individual awards, host Simon Doull later announced live on air that Team India would not be accepting their prize. The ceremony ended abruptly, leaving the winners without their silverware.

Despite this, the mood in the Indian camp was anything but dampened. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav led his teammates in a joyous celebration, recreating former captain Rohit Sharma’s iconic slow walk from the T20 World Cup 2024 victory, with fireworks lighting up the Dubai sky.

Saikia stressed that the incident was “unsportsmanlike” and assured that India would lodge a “serious and strong protest” against Naqvi at the upcoming ICC conference in Dubai this November. He added, “The trophy and medals belong to India. They must be returned. Good sense should prevail.”

“Our armed forces have delivered it in the border area, now the same thing has been repeated in Dubai. So this is an excellent moment, a momentous occasion for Indian cricket … It was Operation Sindoor earlier and now it is Operation Killa. So it is an extremely befitting reply to all the nonsense activities done by some of the hostile country persons. So I don’t think there can be a better reply to this occasion on the grand occasion of the final Dubai match, ” Saikia said.

On the field, the final lived up to the hype. Pakistan, after a strong start with an 84-run opening stand, collapsed dramatically under pressure from India’s spinners. Chasing a tricky target, India overcame an early scare with Tilak Varma’s composed unbeaten 69 and valuable knocks from Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson. Fittingly, debutant Rinku Singh struck the winning runs, sealing another memorable victory for India.

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