Cricket
pti-Gaurav Sharma
The Asia Cup trophy impasse continued for the second year in a row after the victorious Indian women’s cricket on Sunday did not accept the cup from Mohsin Naqvi, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman from Pakistan. Harmanpreet Kaur-led India defeated Sri Lanka by 72 runs here to lift their record-extending eighth Asia Cup title, but the players did not come out on the field for post-tournament presentation ceremonies.
“India are officially the (Asia Cup) champions. Trophy or no trophy doesn’t matter to us. This is BCCI’s stand (to not take trophy from Naqvi). We can’t say anything on this,” India head coach Amol Muzumdar said in the post-match press conference.
India’s women’s cricket team secured their record eighth Asia Cup title by defeating Sri Lanka but declined the trophy presentation from ACC chairman Mohsin Naqvi, continuing a BCCI-mandated stance observed last year.
It may be recalled that the Indian men’s team had last year declined to receive the Asia Cup trophy and medals from Naqvi, who heads the Pakistan Cricket Board and is also the Interior Minister of that country. The Indian team is yet to receive the Asia Cup trophy, which has since been kept in the ACC office.
Instead the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian outfit conducted an impromptu celebration on the dais without the physical prize. However, this time the Indian women’s team members did not even return to the ground after BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia presented Nandini Sharma with an in-house best fielder medal.
However, the Sri Lankan team received the runners-up cheque from Naqvi, and before that all the players and support staff accepted medals from SLC interim chief Eran Wikramaratne. Naqvi left the stadium immediately after presenting the award to Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu, but unlike last year he moved away without carrying the trophy.
The diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan have been frozen ever since last year’s Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor.
The players from both the sides – men and women – now follow a no-handshake protocol whenever they meet in the Asian or the global events conducted by the ICC.
