• Source:JND
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Asia Cup Trophy Controversy: In a first-ever instance in international Cricket, the winners of a particular tournament were not presented with the trophy. It all happened on the night of the Asia Cup final, where Team India emerged victorious, beating bitter rivals Pakistan in a thrilling contest at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. As per a report on social media, Asian Cricket Council President Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Interior Minister of Pakistan, wanted to give the trophy to the winning side himself.

However, the Suryakumar Yadav-led Team India did not want to receive the trophy from Naqvi due to ongoing political tensions between the countries. This led to a contentious situation between the Indian men’s cricket team and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi after India triumphed over Pakistan by five wickets in the final on Sunday.

In this tussle, Naqvi was left with no option, as he left the presentation stage in 'huge' embarrassment. Adding to the embarrassment, Naqvi also took the trophy along with him while leaving the stadium.

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So, where did the trophy go? Some reports on social media suggested that Naqvi took away the trophy as he wanted to take it to his country for a supposed 'victory parade' in front of the fans. However, another report by the news agency PTI confirmed that the trophy is in the ACC headquarters in Dubai.

The ACC headquarters is roughly four kilometres away from the Dubai stadium.

Among the Indian players, Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, and Kuldeep Yadav received their awards from other dignitaries. However, Simon Doull later announced that the ACC had informed him that India would not accept the trophy as the BCCI stood resolute behind their players' decision.

Naqvi, a known offender in the past, tries to gain political mileage with derogatory comments in relation to the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.

It is yet to be seen when ACC will officially present the trophy to the Indian team.

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“I think this is one thing that I have never seen since I started playing and following cricket, that a champion team is denied a trophy. I mean that too, a hard-earned one. It’s not like it happened easily. It was a hard-earned tournament win," Indian captain Suryakumar said after the incident.

The skipper also mentioned that the ‘real trophy’ were the players and team management.