Shoaib Malik sides with Mohsin Naqvi as PCB chairman goes AWOL with Asia Cup trophy: 'This will haunt India'

The post-match presentation was delayed by 45 minutes after India put their foot down and demanded not to be handed the trophy by Naqvi. However, the PCB boss was in the mood to let anyone else grab the spotlight, and eventually, he made his way out of the stadium, seemingly taking the trophy with him.

Abhishek Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, and Tilak Varma received their individual awards, and it was then that presenter Simon Doull announced that the Indian camp had decided not to collect their winners' medals and cheques.

However, Malik feels India should have accepted the trophy from Naqvi as it wasn't a big deal. He also went on to say that several years down the line, India would be "haunted" by their antics during the final.

“Just see how much pressure the players went through to win the Asia Cup. How much heat was there that they played in? They worked so hard. Why did they do all that hard work? To win the Asia Cup trophy, to win the tournament! And after they’ve worked so hard, you don’t even come to take the trophy. It was such a big achievement, and that too after such a close match. It’s a massive moment," Malik said on the 'Game On Hai' programme.

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“Look, today, they might be celebrating this thing like this. However, in the long run, after a few years, this will come back to haunt them. They’ll think: ‘We won the trophy, we worked hard’. They are athletes and sportsmen. A sportsman’s job is to come to the ground, give your best shot, and that’s it," he added.

Tilak Varma's match-winning knock

Tilak was adjudged the Player of the Match for his unbeaten knock of 69 off 53 balls, and this innings was the key behind India lifting their ninth Asia Cup title. India were in a spot of bother at 20/3 with Abhishek, Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav back in the hut, but Tilak, along with Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, ensured India stayed ahead of the asking run rate.

In the end, Rinku Singh sealed the deal with a four off his very first ball of the tournament. Haris Rauf was unable to defend 10 runs in the final over as India got the job done with two balls to spare.

After the win, the organisers took their own time in getting the post-match presentation underway as India refused to budge and accept the trophy from Naqvi.

The Interior Minister of Pakistan sported a poker face throughout the ceremony, even refraining from handing his own players the runners-up medals. He just posed with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha when he was given the runners-up cheque of USD 75,000, which roughly translates to INR 66.75 lakh.

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