AFTER A DECISIVE VICTORY over Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup finals, India’s Women’s Cricket Team refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi in Dubai on Sunday, September 13, 2026. The refusal is part of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) stance on Pakistan and the strategic tensions between the two countries, alongside the unresolved issue over handing the men’s Asia Cup Trophy won in 2025 to the Indian team. This incident also comes within less than a year of the men’s cricket team refusing to accept the trophy from ACC president and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsun Naqvi at the same venue.
With this victory, India’s women’s team has bagged the eighth Women’s Asia Cup title, achieving an unparalleled record in the tournament’s history. Apart from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have won the trophies only once. Bangladesh won the trophy in 2018, and Sri Lanka in 2024, respectively.
For the fans watching the game from both the stadium and the digital screen, it was evident that something was cooking in the background, as it took 40 minutes to start the post-match ceremony after the fall of Sri Lanka’s last wicket. Speculations were on the rise across social media platforms and game-streaming websites; would we witness the reiteration of the Men’s 2025 final?
The post-match ceremony began with the match officials being presented with their mementoes, followed by the Sri Lankan team and their coaching staff. The Sri Lankan team was awarded the runners-up cheque by the ACC president, Mohsin Naqvi—who is also the chief of Pakistan Cricket Board and the Minister of Interiors in the Government.
However, the official broadcast ended after Sri Lankan Captain Chamari Athapaththu gave her interview, without the visuals of India’s players receiving their medals or the Asia Cup trophy. These optics clearly indicated that BCCI maintained its firm stance on India’s strategic and diplomatic tensions with Pakistan and would reiterate them at the global-level platforms by refusing to take the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi.
For the Indian side, the tournament’s post-match ceremony was a platform to amplify its political statement against Pakistan. They also pulled off a similar feat after the 2025 Asia Cup victory by the Men’s team. These instances, however, have garnered its significant share of controversies with questions over the ‘spirit of the game’ and a call for a separating sport and geopolitics, ringing the loudest.
In order to convey the stance of the Women’s team, Head Coach Amol Muzumdar conveyed in the post-match press conference that the women’s team stood by the BCCI’s decision to refuse the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi. “That stand has been taken by the BCCI and we stand by it. For us, this tournament is over. We are the champions. That’s good enough. It was on the big board that India Champions of Asia Cup 2026. This tournament is officially over for us. We are happy that we have turned out to be champions. Now, we look forward to the Asian Games,” Amol Muzumdar said at the post-match press conference.
In a similar fashion, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia took the onus of clarifying the Indian team’s stance on Sunday, September 13. In an exclusive interview with India Today, Devajit informed that such an act of refusal is a normal thing, if we consider the interests of our country and its people. “What happened today after the final game is nothing else, but a normal thing, keeping in mind the interest of our country and the respect of all our people. A large section of India’s populace do not want India to play with one particular hostile country. But in spite of that, we are always playing. Hence, our only concern is that we cannot receive a trophy from those who are not acceptable to us at this stage,” said Devajit Saikia in the interview.
India and Pakistan have had a series of cross-border disputes in the last few years. India has regularly alleged Pakistan for leading Border skirmishes, funding and breeding terrorist activities in its land, and being party to various cases of attack in the Indian soil. Arising out of these strategic and diplomatic concerns, the Indian men’s team also refused to accept the trophy. However, the men’s 2025 Asia Cup final is mired with another unresolved dispute: the BCCI has not yet been handed over the trophy.
“We are also keeping in mind the respect and solidarity with our men’s Asia cup team. If you look at our men’s team, which won the Asia Cup in 2025, the trophy is yet to come to our land. We are still pursuing the trophy,” Saikia stated to India Today.
This incident echoed the men’s Asia Cup finals, 2025—which was held at the same venue, and followed a similar script—where the Indian side refused to receive the trophy from Naqvi, thereby extending the presentation ceremony to more than one hour. The BCCI president, Devajit Saikia, also informed that they had suggested an alternative which could have avoided the controversy. “We can say that the deputy chairman of the ACC can hand over the trophy. That was our request, so that all these controversies could be avoided,’ said Saikia.
See Also: Football: India start SAFF U20 Championship with victory over Pakistan
As the Women’s team went onto win the record-breaking eighth Asia Cup Trophy, it once again highlighted the sporting relationship between India and Pakistan, in which India has maintained a firm stance: to play Pakistan in multinational tournaments only.
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