India’s decision not to receive the Women’s Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi has been backed by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, who said the move reflected the strained political relationship between India and Pakistan.
Naqvi, who is chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and president of the Asian Cricket Council, was present during the presentation ceremony after India defeated Sri Lanka by 72 runs in Sunday’s final. The Indian players were willing to accept the trophy from ACC vice-president Khalid Al Zarouni, but Naqvi did not step aside from the presentation.
Saikia said the decision should be viewed against the backdrop of the deterioration in India-Pakistan relations following the Pahalgam terrorist attack in April 2025 and the subsequent launch of India’s Operation Sindoor.
Although India and Pakistan continue to meet in multinational cricket tournaments, relations between the two sides have become increasingly distant away from the competitive action. Traditional handshakes between players after matches have also stopped.
According to Saikia, India has continued to play Pakistan because its government’s policy is that the country should participate in multinational tournaments and face every team in those competitions. He said there had been public pressure in India to cut sporting and other ties with Pakistan following the Pahalgam incident, but the cricket board had followed the government’s position on participation in international tournaments.
Saikia, however, drew a distinction between playing against Pakistan and accepting every protocol associated with the country’s officials.
He argued that India could continue participating in competitions while maintaining its own position on matters it considered related to national interests. Referring specifically to Naqvi, he said India could not accept the trophy from a senior Pakistani official whom it regarded as acting against Indian interests.
The decision also follows a similar episode involving India’s men’s team at the previous Asia Cup. Saikia said the men had declined to receive the trophy from Naqvi about a year earlier, and the women’s team had now followed the same approach in what he described as an expression of solidarity.
The trophy issue, however, did not prevent routine interaction among officials during the final. Saikia played down his meeting with Naqvi in the royal box, where BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla was also present.
Saikia explained that avoiding all contact with Pakistani officials was never the intention. He said he had been seated outside the royal box from the toss until the end of the match, while various officials came and went during the game. Shukla later joined him, while Naqvi also took a seat beside Khalid Al Zarouni.
Such encounters, Saikia suggested, were part of normal protocol at an international sporting event and should not be interpreted as a change in India’s broader position.
He also said there was no regret over the failure to resolve the trophy presentation issue. According to Saikia, efforts had been made to find a solution, but they did not succeed. The priority, he stressed, was never who would hand over the trophy but ensuring that India won the final comfortably.
That objective was achieved emphatically. India defeated Sri Lanka by 72 runs to complete an unbeaten campaign in the Women’s Asia Cup, giving the team a strong finish to the tournament.
Saikia praised the women’s side for its performance throughout the competition and said attention would now turn towards the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. The women’s T20 cricket event is scheduled to begin on 17 September, with India due to face hosts Japan in the quarter-final the following day.
The latest trophy episode therefore adds another layer to the complicated sporting relationship between India and Pakistan. While cricket between the two nations continues within multinational competitions, the events surrounding the matches increasingly reflect the wider tensions between the neighbouring countries.
