Trophy Drama 2.0 In Dubai: After Men's 2025 Snub, Indian Women Also Refuse To Accept Asia Cup From PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi

Dubai: The Indian women's team delivered Pakistan cricket's favourite nightmare yet again, winning the Asia Cup and then winning the optics by refusing to touch a trophy that had Mohsin Naqvi's fingerprints all over it. On Sunday in Dubai, Harmanpreet Kaur's side thrashed Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final and then staged the most polite humiliation of the ACC president and Pakistan Cricket Board chief.

As per reports, following another convincing Indian triumph, the players did not line up for the customary handshake with the dignitary-in-chief. Instead, they huddled around head coach Amol Muzumdar, who addressed the squad in their own little champions' circle, while Naqvi was left loitering with other officials, waiting for a moment that never arrived.

The message was consistent, a year after the men's team left Naqvi guarding the trophy like it was Pakistan's World Cup, the women's team sent another strong message to the same man, in the same tournament family, that they would rather win without his trophy than win with a photograph with him.

Self-Celebration Instead Of Naqvi Presentation

After improvising on the field to comfortably beat Sri Lanka, the Indian team wonderfully improvised off it to tackle the Pakistani side's delusion of self-importance, with Naqvi still visible on the edge of the square, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla and secretary Devajit Saikia stepped in for a parallel celebration on the field. They presented the fielding medal to Nandani Sharma and spent time congratulating the squad on a dominant campaign throughout the tournament, turning an Asian Cricket Council (ACC) ceremony into a BCCI dressing-room function on the field.

On the other hand, Mohsin Naqvi was seen interacting with other dignitaries as preparations for the official presentation began. He did eventually make it to the stage, but only to hand over the runners-up cheque to Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu, who had a brief chat with Farvez Maharoof before the formalities fizzled out.

Later, Naqvi was seen leaving the field immediately with other ACC officials as boos and chants, mocking him, grew audible in the stands. Notably, the trophy was not seen with him or his entourage as they left, unlike last year when he had actually fled the stadium with it after the men's team boycott.

2025 Deja Vu For Pakistan 

On Sunday, it was deja vu for Pakistan, once again exposing the Pakistan Cricket Board as a specialist in self-mockery on the global stage. The latest snub was straight from the script of the men's Asia Cup final in September 2025, when India beat Pakistan to lift the title and then refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi, who kept tightening his grip on the cup before eventually absconding with it from the venue.

Reportedly, last year India had requested that an Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) official present the cup instead of Naqvi, citing strained ties with Pakistan. Naqvi rejected the request, insisted that the Indian captain must collect it from him personally, and triggered a standoff that ended in high comedy for Pakistan and PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi, drawing mockery worldwide for his decision to take the trophy with him.

India left without the trophy on that night, and Naqvi left with the meme of the year, continuing to insist that the captain should collect the silverware directly from him. 12 months on, history has repeated itself, only this time the champions did not even pretend to wait. They simply refused, celebrated among themselves, and let the Pakistan board chief walk out to the sound of his own diminishing relevance.