India women Asia Cup trophy controversy was not a spontaneous refusal after the final. The BCCI had already told the Asian Cricket Council that Harmanpreet Kaur’s team would not collect the trophy if it was presented by ACC chairman Mohsin Naqvi. When the ceremony went ahead without the proposed alternative, India stayed away from the official presentation.
India had just beaten Sri Lanka by 72 runs in Dubai on September 13 to win a record-extending eighth Women’s Asia Cup. India made 183 for 5, with Shafali Verma scoring 68 and Smriti Mandhana making 59. Sri Lanka were dismissed for 111.
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India had warned the ACC before the final
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said the board communicated its position to the ACC before the match. The dispute was therefore not created by an unexpected appearance from Naqvi after India won.
Saikia said India was prepared to receive the trophy from ACC deputy chairman Khalid Al Zarooni instead. The proposed arrangement did not materialise and India withdrew from the official presentation.
The distinction is important because the ACC has not publicly established that its chairman must personally hand the trophy to the champions. The available reporting instead points to a disagreement over who would conduct the ceremony.
The result was an unusual scene in Dubai. Sri Lanka’s runners-up players received their medals and awards, while the Indian champions did not appear for their trophy presentation. The ceremony was delayed by roughly 40 to 50 minutes before proceedings began.
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The trophy dispute is now a second-year problem
The India women Asia Cup trophy episode closely follows the men’s tournament controversy of 2025. India’s men’s team also declined to receive the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi after defeating Pakistan in the final.
The repeated confrontation is significant because Naqvi holds three roles central to the dispute. He is ACC chairman, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman and Pakistan’s interior minister. BCCI has framed its decision as an institutional position rather than an action directed at the players or the tournament itself.
India coach Amol Muzumdar backed that position after the women’s final, saying, “India is officially the Asia Cup champion. Trophy or no trophy doesn’t matter to us.”
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Where the 2026 trophy goes next
The unresolved issue is now physical possession of the silverware. Saikia said BCCI expects to obtain the women’s trophy as well as the men’s trophy, which India says it has still not received from the previous Asia Cup.
That leaves the ACC with a practical problem it has now faced twice. India can be formally recognised as champion while the trophy remains outside the team’s possession.
For the BCCI, the refusal has become part of a continuing policy shaped by the deterioration in India-Pakistan relations since 2025. For the ACC, the more immediate problem is procedural: whether future Asia Cup ceremonies can avoid turning the presentation itself into another dispute.
The next test will be whether the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup trophy is eventually handed to BCCI through a separate arrangement and whether the same unresolved issue involving the 2025 men’s trophy is finally closed.
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