The victorious Indian team was denied the Asia Cup winners’ trophy after it refused to collect it from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, who also happens to be Pakistan’s Interior Minister and chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Following the unprecedented incident, India captain Suryakumar Yadav said he had never seen a champion team being denied the trophy.

“This is one thing which I have never seen since I started playing and following cricket. That a champion team is denied to get a trophy, that too a hard-earned one. I feel we deserved it, and I can’t say anything more. My trophies are sitting in my dressing room, all the 14 guys with me, all the support staff, those are the real trophies,” Suryakumar said at the post-match press conference at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium after India beat Pakistan by five wickets in the summit clash of the continental showdown.

The Indian skipper, who had dedicated India’s first win over Pakistan in the tournament on September 14 to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and the Indian Army, signed off by announcing that he was donating his match fees from the Asia Cup to the armed forces.

“I want to give my match fees of all the games which I have played in this tournament to the Indian Army,” he announced.

On-field chaos

The Indian team wasn’t awarded the trophy, and neither were the players presented with the winners’ medals. At around midnight, an hour-and-a-half after the match ended, the Indian players got on to the stage to celebrate their triumph.

“We were waiting for an hour and a half to have our celebrations,” Suryakumar chuckled, while humorously adding that he saw the ‘champions’ banner being brought onto the field and then taken away. “ Champions ka board aaya aur wapas chala gaya. Woh bhi dekha,” he quipped.

The post-match press conference also witnessed an awkward exchange when a visibly miffed Pakistani journalist questioned Suryakumar’s ‘behaviour’ and accused him and the Indian team of mixing politics and sport.

Though the Indian media manager didn’t entertain the question, Suryakumar laughingly remarked, “ Gussa ho rahe ho aap (you are getting angry).”

When asked whether the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had shot an official email to the ACC that the team wouldn’t receive the trophy from Naqvi, in case it won the tournament, Suryakumar replied: “We took this call on the ground. We didn’t have any instructions.”

Published on Sep 29, 2025