Moments after India soaked in the pressure of a tense final to beat Pakistan by five wickets and seal their ninth Asia Cup crown, the spotlight shifted to the delayed presentation ceremony — and the drama that unfolded there. The Indian team refused to accept the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief and head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), who is also Pakistan’s interior minister.
The reason behind the delay was not immediately clear, though speculation grew that India did not wish to receive the silverware from Naqvi. A day earlier, the ACC had confirmed on its website that Naqvi would present the trophy to the winners.
The chaos deepened when, before the ceremony finally began, an ACC official suddenly lifted the Asia Cup trophy from its spot on the raised dais and walked away with it, offering no explanation.
The ceremony eventually got underway, and individual awards were handed out by other dignitaries, with Kuldeep Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, and Tilak Varma among the recipients. Pakistan captain Salman Agha then collected the runners-up cheque. But the ceremony was declared closed without the champions receiving their silverware.
“I have been informed by the Asian Cricket Council that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight,” presenter Simon Doull announced during the broadcast. “So that does conclude the post-match presentation.”
After the dignitaries departed, India’s players and support staff climbed the podium on their own to celebrate. With no trophy in sight, captain Suryakumar Yadav and his teammates raised an imaginary cup to mark their triumph.
“I think this is one thing which I have never seen since I started playing cricket, started following cricket, that a champion team is denied a trophy, that too a hard-earned one,” Suryakumar said later at the press conference.