Asian cricket chief Mohsin Naqvi’s provocative social media reposts one of the reasons for India cricketers refusing to accept trophy from him

According to sources, the immediate trigger for the Indian cricketers refusing to accept the trophy from Naqvi was his reposting of images on X — including one titled ‘Final Day’ in which Pakistan cricketers, including captain Salman Agha and fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, are seen wearing flight suits with images of airborne fighter jets in the background. Earlier during the tournament, Naqvi had posted a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo depicting a crashing plane.

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“I have never seen a champion (team) not getting a trophy. We deserved it. The real trophies are my 14 colleagues and they will stay in my memory,” India captain Suryakumar Yadav said in the post-match media briefing.

This was the third meeting of India and Pakistan in the tournament. The first two were marked by comfortable wins for India — and very fraught references to a rivalry that wasn’t quite cricket. India had refused to shake hands with the Pakistani players from their first game here, with Suryakumar dedicating the win at the time to the families of victims of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.

Days after the Pahalgam attack, India had retaliated with Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in PoK and Pakistan and triggering a tense military standoff in April-May lasting three days.

In Dubai, the relationship between the two sides turned sour after the no-handshake gesture. Subsequently, Naqvi supported a move for the team to boycott the rest of the Asia Cup. “If we had to go to boycott, which was a very big decision — the prime minister, government officials and lots of other people were also involved, and we got their full support. We were monitoring the issue,” he said during a press conference in Lahore. “We believe that politics and sports can’t go together. This is sports, and let it remain a sport. Cricket should be separate from all this,” he added.

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On Sunday night, India’s cricketers only stepped onto the podium at the Dubai International Stadium to receive individual awards from other dignitaries. Then, the players quickly left the stadium.

In fact, there were signs immediately after the match that the awards ceremony would be delayed. Almost 20 minutes had passed after Rinku Singh hit the winning runs and the organisers had erected the dais. Pakistan’s cricketers had retreated to the dressing room. The Indians were scattered on one side of the ground. Nothing happened. Officials were spotted walking urgently to resolve the issue. Umpires and the match referee did their round of negotiations, but to little evident result.

The delay prompted boos from the stands, by then half empty and with only a few Indian supporters remaining. On TV, commentator Ravi Shastri said it was ridiculous for the players to have to wait for 45 minutes for the presentation after the game’s conclusion.

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