Will India accept the Women’s Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi?

New Delhi, Sep 5: As the red-hot favourites at the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup, Harmanpreet Kaur’s side looks poised to reach the final in Dubai on September 13. Yet, looming over their on-field dominance is an awkward, unresolved geopolitical storm: if India lifts the title, will they actually accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi? Under regular protocol, the head of the continental body hands over the silverware. But Naqvi is not just an administrator—he is simultaneously the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Pakistan’s sitting Interior Minister. That dual identity triggered unprecedented diplomatic chaos a year ago, and there is no guarantee lightning won’t strike twice.

The current dilemma stems directly from the Men’s Asia Cup final on September 28, 2025. After Suryakumar Yadav’s side edged Pakistan in a final-over thriller, the post-match presentation ground to a bizarre halt for over an hour. BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia eventually confirmed the standoff, stating India refused to receive the trophy from Naqvi due to his high-ranking political office in Islamabad. An alternative proposal—having Emirates Cricket Board Vice-Chairman Khalid Al Zarooni present the trophy—was turned down. In the end, an official carted the silverware off the dais, leaving the Indian team to celebrate on the podium by miming holding an invisible trophy. Naqvi subsequently refused to release the hardware, cheekily inviting the BCCI to collect it directly from the ACC headquarters in Dubai, while India threatened to escalate the matter to the ICC. Nearly a year later, the men’s trophy remains missing from the BCCI’s cabinet.

How the BCCI Dropped the Ball

While the BCCI staged an ideological protest on the ground in Dubai, its subsequent failure to secure the men’s trophy highlights a glaring administrative failure. For all its posturing as global cricket’s unassailable financial superpower—capable of rewriting tournament schedules, moving events at will, and dominating ICC revenue-sharing—the world’s richest cricket board was comprehensively outmanoeuvred by a regional administrator. The BCCI’s response gradually descended from righteous defiance into what increasingly looked like impotent paperwork. The episode began with what became the “invisible trophy” farce, as the Indian men’s team stood on a global podium celebrating a major triumph without the physical trophy in their hands. What should have been a moment of sporting achievement was instead reduced to an awkward symbolic victory, denying the players the tangible recognition they had earned on the field. The BCCI subsequently threatened to raise the matter at the ICC’s November meeting, but that ultimatum produced no tangible outcome. The lack of resolution exposed the limitations of the board’s diplomatic leverage when confronted with a dispute involving continental protocol and political sensitivities. More damaging was the fact that a tournament trophy won fairly on the field was allowed to remain caught up in the dispute, effectively becoming political collateral in an ACC office in Dubai. By failing either to quietly resolve the standoff or secure a dignified handover, the BCCI allowed a hardline position to evolve into an ongoing embarrassment — one that now casts an uncomfortable shadow over the Indian women’s team. (Agencies)