DUBAI: India’s women’s cricket team were stopped by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from accepting the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi, India head coach Amol Muzumdar revealed in the press conference after the team won the title in Dubai.
Muzumdar said the decision came from the BCCI and the players followed the board’s instructions.
“The BCCI decided that the women’s team would also not take the trophy. We are the champions of Asia and we followed the board’s decision,” Muzumdar said.
Asked when the team would receive the trophy, Muzumdar said: “We don’t know anything about the trophy. There is no news about when we will get it.”
The refusal broke with the usual tournament protocol, under which the ACC president presents the trophy to the champions.
BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla was present at the Dubai Cricket Stadium and tried to persuade the Indian players to show grace and sportsmanship by accepting the trophy from Naqvi, according to people familiar with the episode. However, people familiar with the events told Geo News that the Indian team had been strictly instructed by the board not to receive the trophy and not to approach the presentation stage.
The Indian women’s team’s decision also echoed the men’s team’s refusal to receive the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi after the 2025 final in Dubai.
In December 2025, India’s Under-19 team also declined to receive its runners-up medals from Naqvi after Pakistan beat India by 191 runs in the Under-19 Asia Cup final at the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai. The medals were subsequently presented by the Afghan cricket board official.
The repeated trophy and medal snubs have added a political edge to cricketing relations between India and Pakistan, raising questions over whether sporting ceremonies are increasingly being caught up in tensions between the two countries.