When a decades-long regional rivalry spills onto the cricket field, the spectacle is always rich with symbolism. The three Asia Cup encounters between India and Pakistan, following close on the heels of an almost war-like situation in May, were exactly that. From war-like celebrations by players to symbolic boycott of routine sporting gestures, the cricket matches did not just make for great drama but also captured the tense sentiment underpinning a rivalry that goes way beyond cricket.
However, the ugliness between the arch-rivals hit a crescendo late Sunday when the Indian players refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi. Naqvi, on his part, walked off with the trophy during a delayed post-match presentation, leaving the Men In Blue without the silverware. That Team India celebrated the victory unfazed, pretending to lift an imaginary trophy, was a fitting symbol of the resolve and defiance with which they had taken the field.
But why exactly did India refuse to accept the trophy? It wasn’t merely because Naqvi hailed from Pakistan, but because he represented a government that had waged war against India and distorted the spirit of the game with disparaging posts on X.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia made India's position clear after the Asia Cup match, saying that it cannot accept the trophy from someone who has waged war against the country.
"So far as the trophy is concerned, trophy distribution, India cannot take the trophy from the person who is waging a war against our country," Saikia said.
He added: "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."
Though he did name Naqvi directly, the implication was clear that the Men In Blue won't share the dias with a man who has spread venom against the country, especially in his position as the boss of Pakistan cricket.
Sources told The Indian Express that one of the major triggers for India's refusal to accept the trophy were Naqvi's decision to repost distasteful images on X before and after the match. One of the posts included a picture showing skipper Salman Agha and pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi wearing flight suits with images of fighter jets in the background. The caption read "Final Day". Naqvi had earlier posted an image of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo depicting a crashing plane.
The visuals were part of a broader Pakistani propoganda that its air force "shot down" several Indian jets during Operation Sindoor — a misleading claim dismissed by India and one that diverts attention from the heavy losses the neighbour suffered during the four-day escalation.
Naqvi's incendiary remarks continued even after the match ended when he made a scathing remark on X following PM Narendra Modi's congratulatory post for India. "If war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan’s hands. No cricket match can rewrite that truth. Dragging war into sport only exposes desperation and disgraces the very spirit of the game," he said, again repeating unfounded and misleading claims that his country "won" the war.
Though Suryakumar Yadav and his boys celebrated the victory like true champions, the Indian skipper later rued about the way things unfolded during the post-match ceremony. “I think this is one thing I have never seen. Since I started playing and following cricket, a champion team being denied a trophy. That too a hard-earned one,” Suryakumar said.
However, the batter added that the "real trophies" are sitting in the dressing room — his 14 teammates and the support staff. "They are the reason we won this title. Still, a team winning a hard-fought tournament and not getting a trophy is something I have never seen,” he added.
Later, he posted a picture on X with Man of the Match Tilak Verma along with an edited graphic of a trophy, a final symbolic reminder that the spirit of victory far outweighed the defeatist posture of a sulking nation.
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