Naqvi insists India will have to collect Asia Cup trophy from him

During the ACC meeting held on Tuesday, Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, had blocked BCCI’s proposal to hand over the Asia Cup Trophy to India, infuriating the Indian cricket board further.

India beat Pakistan by five wickets on Sunday to clinch the Asia Cup as it chased down 147 on the back of Tilak Varma’s match-winning unbeaten half-century. The Indian cricketers, however, refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi during the presentation ceremony.

In a statement which will further affect the already strained relations between the two cricket boards, Naqvi wrote on X: “As ACC President, I was ready to hand over the trophy that very day and I am still ready now. If they truly want it, they are welcome to come to the ACC office and collect it from me.”

Naqvi rejected reports claiming that at the ACC AGM on Tuesday he apologised to BCCI officials for his actions at the presentation ceremony when he walked away with the trophy after the India team refused to accept it from him.

“Indian media thrives on lies, not facts,” he said on X. “Let me make it absolutely clear: I have done nothing wrong and I have never apologized to the BCCI nor will I ever do so.

“This fabricated nonsense is nothing but cheap propaganda, aimed only at misleading their own people. Unfortunately, India continues to drag politics into cricket, damaging the very spirit of the game.”

Simmering political tensions between the two neighours intensified on the cricket field during the tournament with India captain and players declining handshakes for three consecutive matches.

Despite India making its stance clear of not interacting with the Pakistan players and its chief, ACC said that Naqvi would present the trophy to the winner. Naqvi is the Interior Minister in the Pakistan government with a pronounced anti-India political position.

Former BCCI treasurer Ashish Shelar and BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla had represented the board in the ACC AGM held on Tuesday where they raised strong objection over the trophy not being duly handed over to the Indian team.

However, there was no decision taken in the AGM over handing over the trophy to India, upsetting the BCCI top brass. The Indian board will now take the matter to the ICC, which will have its meeting in November.

“We had decided not to take the trophy from the ACC chairman who happens to be one of the main leaders of Pakistan. But that does not mean that the gentleman will take away the trophy and the medals. It was very unfortunate, very unsporting. We hope the trophy and the medals will be returned to India as soon as possible. We will definitely lodge a serious complaint against this act of the ACC chairperson in the ICC meeting,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia had said.

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