India's stance on not accepting trophy from Naqvi unchanged: BCCI

The secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Devajit Saikia, has supported the decision not to accept the Women's Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

Relations between India and Pakistan deteriorated further after the April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam and the subsequent launch of India's 'Operation Sindoor'. Although the two teams continued to play against each other in multinational tournaments, the practice of shaking hands after matches came to an end. Last year, the men's team also refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi.

After defeating Sri Lanka by 72 runs in Sunday's final, the Indian women's team took the same position. They were willing to accept the trophy from ACC vice-president Khalid Al Zarooni, but Naqvi refused to step aside, and ultimately the trophy was not handed over to the Indian team.

Speaking to IANS, Saikia said that after the Pahalgam incident, there was pressure from the country's people not to maintain any relations with Pakistan and not to play cricket with them. However, India's government policy is to play against every country in multinational tournaments. Therefore, the BCCI sends teams to play against every team in line with that policy.

He said this does not mean India will play and accept all conditions set by Pakistan. Relations between the two countries were already poor, and they deteriorated further after April 2025. Claiming that Naqvi is working against India's interests, Saikia also said it was not possible to accept the trophy from him.

The BCCI secretary said that a year ago, India also did not accept the trophy from Naqvi at the men's Asia Cup. In the same situation, the women's team has expressed solidarity with that decision.

However, Saikia did not want to give importance to his meeting with Naqvi in the Royal Box during the final. BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla was also present there.

Saikia said it was not a matter of not meeting anyone. He met various people present in the Royal Box at different times from the toss until the end of the game. Naqvi also came and sat next to ACC vice-president Khalid. He described this as a normal process, saying there is no problem in meeting and talking to whoever comes.

Saikia also said there was no regret over the trophy presentation. In his words, attempts were made to resolve the situation, but they were unsuccessful. However, India's goal was not who would give the trophy, but for the Indian team to win the match easily. In the end, the team fulfilled that goal.

He praised the Indian women's team for winning the title unbeaten throughout the Asia Cup. Now the team's focus is on the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The women's T20 event will begin on September 17. India will face hosts Japan in the quarter-final on September 18.