Cricket
oh-Ashish Rana
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Monday clarified that the BCCI has collectively decided that the Indian women’s team will not receive the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi.
The Indian women’s cricket team won the Asia Cup, but the BCCI decided they would not receive the trophy from ACC chief Mohsin Naqvi, a decision confirmed by vice-president Rajeev Shukla, mirroring a similar previous protest by the men’s team.
The Indian women’s team won the final match against Sri Lanka by 72 runs on Sunday in Dubai to win the Asia Cup. However, Mohsin Naqvi, who heads the Asian Cricket Council, was not present at presenting the trophy to the Indian players.
The Indian men’s team took exactly the same stance during the 2025 Asian Cup and did not receive the trophy from Naqvi’s hands after protesting the Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 lives.
“We discussed the issue among ourselves and decided that we will not accept it (the trophy) from him. It was our collective decision. He (Naqvi) also had no objection to it,” Shukla told reporters after arriving with the team at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Naqvi did not object to the decision
“We informed our team about it and he presented it to everyone who needed it and then left,” Shukla added.
The veteran administrator’s comments were in line with the stance taken earlier by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia.
“We have taken a conscious decision keeping in mind all prevailing aspects and our position has been communicated to the ACC in advance that the Indian team will not participate in the trophy presentation under the circumstances,” Saikia told PTI earlier.
Shukla defends Saikia-Naqvi interaction
Earlier, some images had surfaced showing Saikia talking to Naqvi during the Asia Cup final. However, Shukla described the interaction as routine.
“What Saikia ji said is absolutely true. When you’re at a match, everyone is there and interacting in a professional capacity. So I don’t think there should be so much criticism about it,” he said.
BCCI confident of success of Asian Games
Shukla also congratulated the Indian women’s team for winning the Asian Cup and expressed confidence that the athletes will perform well at the upcoming Asian Games in Japan.
“We became champions of the Asian Cup. Our women have once again made us proud and we will continue to excel in the future.
“The team is now heading to Japan and we are fully confident that we will win there too,” he said.
