India celebrate Asia Cup win without trophy; BCCI to lodge strong protest against ACC chief Mohsin Naqvi

High drama unfolded after the politically charged Asia Cup summit clash in Dubai on Sunday, with the Indian team refusing to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President and Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

Naqvi stood firm on the stage, and eventually, the trophy was not awarded to the winning team, probably the first time on a cricket field.

India, who beat Pakistan by five wickets in the thrilling final match, were left to celebrate their triumph without the silverware.

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed their players had refused to accept the winner's trophy from ACC President Naqvi, who is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCC0.

"We have decided not to take the trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main leaders of Pakistan," Saikia told news agency ANI.

India's Tilak Varma (player-of-the-match), Abhishek Sharma (player-of-the-tournament) and Kuldeep Yadav (MVP), however, turned up to accept their individual awards, although they did not acknowledge Naqvi, who was present on the stage.

Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who remained composed as the controversy raged on, later said he had never seen in his career that the winning team was denied a trophy.

"This is one thing which I have never seen since I started playing cricket, since I started following cricket, that a champion team is denied a trophy. That, too, a hard-earned one. It's not like it happened easily. It was a hard-earned tournament win," Yadav told PTI.

'Naqvi can't take away trophy to his hotel'

Saikia justified the team's refusal, saying that India cannot accept the trophy from a person who is "waging a war against the country."

"We have taken a decision not to accept the trophy, but that does not allow the gentleman to take away the trophy and the medals to his hotel," he said.

"This is unexpected, very childish in nature, and we will launch a very strong protest with ICC in the forthcoming ICC meeting to be held in Dubai in the first week of November," said the BCCI secretary.

Why Naqvi is a controversial figure

According to some media reports, BCCI had informed their ACC points-person that the team wouldn't take the award from Naqvi, who has a pronounced anti-India stance.

Amid the controversy over the provocative gestures of a few Pakistani players on the ground during the previous match, Naqvi had posted cryptic videos of Cristiano Ronaldo's plane crash gesture celebrations—a reference to the Pakistani claims that six Indian jets were downed during 'Operation Sindoor'.

Naqvi had protested against the Indian captain after he showed solidarity with the families of the Pahalgam attack victims and dedicated India's opening match victory against Pakistan to the armed forces.