Naqvi Offers To Hand Over Asia Cup Trophy To India, There's A Big Catch

The Asia Cup trophy row has some fresh developments. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, has offered to organise an event in Dubai next month, where the Asia Cup can be handed over to the Indian men's cricket team. The event, scheduled for November 10, has been proposed following an exchange of letters between the Asian Cricket Council and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board president and the country's Interior Minister, conveyed his intention to hand over the trophy on November 10, according to a report by Telecom Asia Sport.

“There was a series of letters exchanged with the BCCI, and the ACC has conveyed to them that we are ready to host Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his players with BCCI official Rajiv Shukla to take the trophy in a ceremony on November 10 in Dubai,” Naqvi was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.

BCCI sources told NDTV that Naqvi's demands of getting a player to take the trophy cannot be met. This refers to his reported insistence that a formal function be organised where the India T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, would personally collect the trophy from him, a condition the BCCI is unwilling to accept. Sources added that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has fired a fresh warning to Naqvi, asking him to hand over the trophy to India or risk the matter being escalated to the International Cricket Council (ICC) during next month's meeting.

Following their victory over Pakistan in the final on September 28, the Indian team declined to accept the trophy from Naqvi, who had insisted on presenting it personally in his capacity as ACC president. The stalemate continued for nearly an hour before Naqvi ordered the trophy to be taken away from the stadium, said the report on www.telecomasia.net..

Later, India skipper Suryakumar mocked receiving the trophy and shared it with his players. The Indian team returned without taking the trophy.

The Indian players reportedly refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi due to his role as Pakistan's Interior Minister and alleged support for terrorism in India.

Reports from India suggested that the BCCI was considering raising the matter at upcoming meetings of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the ACC. The ICC Board meeting is scheduled in Dubai from November 4–7.

“The ACC has written to the BCCI that a ceremony can be held in Dubai on November 10. Bring your captain and players and receive the trophy from me,” said Naqvi.

India beat Pakistan in all three matches of the Asia Cup, and the Indian players refused to shake hands with the Pakistan players in each of them.

Suryakumar dedicated the first match win to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir—a statement that resulted in a 30 per cent match fee fine by the ICC.

Pakistan paceman Haris Rauf was also fined 30 per cent of his fee for displaying political slogans during the second match, also held in Dubai on September 21. However, opener Sahibzada Farhan was let off for his gun-firing celebration with the bat after reaching a half-century in the same game.

With IANS inputs 

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