India win Women’s Asia Cup but do not accept trophy

The presumption ceremonial for the Women’s Asia Cup cricket last successful Dubai became arguable aft winners India refused to judge the trophy from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi, who besides serves arsenic Pakistan’s interior minister, amid ongoing governmental tensions betwixt the South Asian neighbours.

India bushed Sri Lanka by 72 runs successful the last connected Sunday to reclaim the crown from the 2024 champions, but the post-match ceremonial was delayed by much than 45 minutes arsenic players from some sides waited extracurricular their respective dressing rooms.

The lucifer astatine the Dubai International Cricket Stadium ended adjacent to 9:50pm (17:50 GMT), but the ceremonial did not get nether mode until 10:40pm (18:40 GMT).

Once the impermanent signifier for the handing implicit of awards was acceptable up, Naqvi was seen lasting alongside different dignitaries arsenic the ceremonial began. Match officials were the archetypal to beryllium presented with their medallions earlier the Sri Lankan players stepped up for their medals.

Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu received the runners-up grant from Naqvi and past proceeded to talk astir her team’s performance.

However, nary idiosyncratic awards, including Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament, were handed out, and neither was the Indian squad called up to person their medals oregon the trophy.

India won the tourney for a record-extending eighth time.

The tournament’s authoritative societal media accounts did not station immoderate trophy solemnisation images.

The Indian Women’s cricket team’s societal media relationship posted a radical photograph of the squad and coaching unit successful what appeared to beryllium an bare stadium soon aft the decision of the grant ceremony.

Why did India garbage the trophy?

Images and videos posted connected societal media showed the Indian squad and enactment unit lasting successful a ellipse extracurricular their dressing country up of the ceremony. They were not seen adjacent the signifier erstwhile it got nether way, and nary mentation was provided for their absence.

Indian cricket team’s caput manager Amol Muzumdar said the determination to not judge the trophy was taken by the Board of Control for Cricket successful India (BCCI).

“That basal has been taken by the BCCI, and we basal by it,” helium said successful his post-match property league erstwhile asked wherefore the Indian squad did not look for the presumption ceremony.

“The tourney is over,” Muzumdar added. “We are the champions, and that’s bully capable [for us].”

The tournament’s organisers, the ACC, and the Indian cricket committee did not respond to Al Jazeera’s petition for a comment.

The country was reminiscent of a akin incidental from past September, erstwhile India bushed Pakistan to triumph the Men’s Asian Cup astatine the aforesaid venue but refused to judge the trophy from Naqvi, who headed the ACC then, arsenic well.

He is besides the president of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Shortly aft the enactment astatine the men’s final, BCCI Chairman Devajit Saikia confirmed that India’s refusal was based connected Naqvi’s beingness arsenic the starring fig of the ceremony.

“We person decided not to instrumentality the Asia Cup trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to beryllium 1 of the main [political] leaders of Pakistan,” Saikia past told Indian media.

India’s players observe aft winning the Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026 against Sri Lanka astatine the Dubai International Cricket Stadium [Courtesy Asian Cricket Council]

Troubled India-Pakistan ties

India-Pakistan relations person been troubled for years. But they plummeted further aft equipped attackers killed 26 men successful Pahalgam, a tourism tract successful Indian-administered Kashmir, connected April 22, 2025.

The Resistance Front (TRF), an equipped radical which demands Kashmir’s independence, claimed work for the attack. India alleges that TRF is simply a subdivision of the Pakistan-based equipped group, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), an allegation Islamabad denies.

Following the attack, the 2 countries scaled backmost diplomatic relations, and India suspended its information successful the Indus Waters Treaty.

On May 7, 2025, India launched multiple rocket attacks on sites successful Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir nether what it called Operation Sindoor. India said it struck 9 sites successful Pakistan, which said dozens of civilians were killed.

Three days later, Pakistan launched Operation Bunyan Marsoos, targeting astatine slightest six Indian subject sites and sidesplitting astatine slightest 5 Indians, according to Indian authorities.

On the aforesaid day, the 2 sides reached a ceasefire agreement, which was announced by United States President Donald Trump.

Has the governmental hostility affected India-Pakistan cricket?

Since the May 2025 hostilities, each gathering of the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams – men, women oregon inferior – has been marred by bitterness betwixt some sides.

During the Men’s Asia Cup of 2025, the Indian squad did not partake successful the customary handshake with their Pakistani counterparts astatine the pre-match flip and post-match walkoff. The teams met 3 times successful the tournament, which became hugely governmental owed to the players’ hostile behaviour towards each other.

When Pakistan faced India successful the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 successful Sri Lanka, the teams steered wide of handshakes and repeated the signifier astatine the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this twelvemonth successful England, arsenic good arsenic their group-stage lucifer successful the Women’s Asia Cup.

Following the Men’s Asia Cup last fiasco, governmental experts told Al Jazeera the incidental seemed “inevitable” nether the tense backdrop.

When is the adjacent India vs Pakistan cricket match?

Both countries volition enactment successful the men’s and women’s tournaments astatine the upcoming Asian Games successful Japan.

While the teams are not grouped unneurotic successful the aboriginal signifier arsenic they person received nonstop introduction into the knockouts, the anticipation of an India vs Pakistan last remains successful some competitions.