Cricket: Indian team refuses to accept Asia Cup winners’ trophy from Pakistani official

The Indian men’s cricket team on Sunday refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s interior minister and chief of the country's cricket board, PTI reported.

India secured a five-wicket victory over Pakistan during the final match of the tournament at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Devajit Saikia alleged that Naqvi walked away with the Asia Cup trophy and the individual medals of the winning team after they refused to accept the award from him, reported The Indian Express.

Saikia added that the BCCI would register a protest against Naqvi at the International Cricket Council meeting in Dubai in the first week of November, according to The Hindu.

In a post-match briefing, Indian team captain Suryakumar Yadav said he had never seen a winning team “not getting a trophy”.

“We deserved it,” he said. “The real trophies are my 14 colleagues and they will stay in my memory.”

Saikia stated that although the Indian team refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi, it “does not mean that the gentleman will take away the trophy along with the medals”, reported The Indian Express.

The BCCI official described Naqvi’s actions as being “unfortunate, very unsporting” and said he hoped that the trophy and the...

Read more