Cricket
oi-Ashish Rana
BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla on Monday cleared that BCCI had collectively decided that India women team would not receive Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi.
India’s women’s cricket team won the Asia Cup, but the BCCI decided they would not receive the trophy from ACC head Mohsin Naqvi, a decision confirmed by VP Rajiv Shukla, mirroring a similar previous protest by the men’s team.
Indian women team won the final match against Sri Lanka with 72 runs on Sunday in Dubai and won the Asia Cup. However, Mohsin Naqvi who heads the Asian Cricket Council was not involved in presenting the trophy to Indian players.
This is exactly the same kind of stance what Indian men team took during the 2025 Asia Cup and didn’t receive the trophy from Naqvi’s hand after protesting against Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
“We discussed the matter among ourselves and decided that we would not accept it (trophy) from him. It was our collective decision. He (Naqvi) also did not raise any objection to it,” Shukla told reporters after arriving at the Indira Gandhi International Airport with the team.
Naqvi Did Not Object To Decision
“We informed our team accordingly, and he presented it to whoever he had to and then left,” Shukla added.
The veteran administrator’s comments were in line with the stance taken earlier by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia.
“We had taken a conscious decision considering all prevailing aspects, and our position had been communicated to the ACC in advance, that the Indian team would not participate in the trophy presentation under the circumstances,” Saikia had told PTI earlier.
Shukla Defends Saikia-Naqvi Interaction
Some images had surfaced earlier showing Saikia talking to Naqvi during the Asia Cup final. However, Shukla described the interaction as a routine one.
“What Saikia ji said is absolutely correct. When you are at a match, everyone is present there and interacts in a professional capacity. Therefore, I do not think there should be so much criticism over that,” he said.
BCCI Confident Of Asian Games Success
Shukla also congratulated the Indian women’s team on winning the Asia Cup and expressed confidence that the players would perform well at the upcoming Asian Games in Japan.
“We became Asia Cup champions. Our women have once again made us proud and we will continue to win in the future.
“The team is now heading to Japan and we are fully confident that we will secure a victory there as well,” he said.
