Mohsin Naqvi Now Holds 2 Asia Cup Trophies India Won

India’s women’s cricket team won the Asia Cup 2026 final by 72 runs against Sri Lanka on September 13 in Dubai. Smriti Mandhana scored 59, Shafali Verma hit a 24-ball fifty, and the pair put on 129 for the opening wicket. India posted 183/5. Sri Lanka folded for 111, with Shree Charani taking 4-20 and Deepti Sharma 3-19. India’s eighth Asia Cup title was never in doubt on the field.

Off it, the script was identical to September 2025.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and her squad refused to attend the trophy presentation. The ceremony was delayed over 45 minutes. Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu collected the runners-up cheque. India never appeared. As ACC President Mohsin Naqvi left the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Indian fans in the stands chanted “trophy chor” loud enough for every camera to pick up.

“That stand has been taken by the BCCI, and we stand by it. For us, this tournament is over. We are the champions.”

Amol Muzumdar, India women’s head coach, post-match, September 13, 2026

BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia backed the decision in blunt terms.

“One of their key leaders is working against the interests of our country. We cannot receive the trophy from him.”

Devajit Saikia, BCCI Secretary, September 2026

Saikia confirmed this was not a standalone decision. “A year ago, we did not accept the trophy in the Men’s Asia Cup. Our women’s team took a decision today to express solidarity.”

This is no longer an incident. It is policy.

In September 2025, India beat Pakistan in the men’s Asia Cup final at the same venue. Captain Suryakumar Yadav and his team refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi. The presentation was delayed over 90 minutes. Eventually, officials removed the trophy from the podium. India celebrated without it. Yadav mimed lifting an invisible trophy for the cameras.

Naqvi took the trophy. It has not left the ACC headquarters in Dubai since.

BCCI lodged a formal complaint. The matter was raised at the ICC conference in November 2025. ICC Deputy Chair Imran Khawaja and CEO Sanjog Gupta facilitated an hour-long meeting between Saikia and Naqvi. Saikia said the ice had been broken. Nothing melted after that.

Naqvi’s public position never shifted. He rejected reports that he had apologised to the BCCI, took to X to call those claims “cheap propaganda,” and made a counter-offer that amounted to a demand.

“As ACC President, I was ready to hand over the trophy that very day and I am still ready now. If they truly want it, they are welcome to come to the ACC office and collect it from me.”

Mohsin Naqvi, on X, October

The BCCI declined. The trophy stayed locked in Dubai. Then India won the Women’s Asia Cup. And the exact same thing happened again.

Pakistan can’t win trophies, so Mohsin Naqvi ran away with the Asia Cup trophy

Ramiz Raja said: Pakistan, know your place in world cricket 😂 pic.twitter.com/n5fslxL1Xq

— Ash (@Ashsay_) September 14, 2026

The problem is not a diplomatic miscommunication. The problem is one man holding three positions that cannot coexist. Naqvi is the PCB Chairman, responsible for Pakistan cricket. He is Pakistan’s Interior Minister, a political figure in a government India has cut diplomatic ties with over the Pahalgam attack of April 2025 and Operation Sindoor that followed. And he is the ACC President, the neutral administrator meant to govern Asian cricket for all member boards.

This is the same PCB that boycotted a Lord’s Test over political posturing. The pattern is not new.

India’s government policy requires participation in multinational tournaments. But participation does not extend to accepting a trophy from a serving Pakistani minister. The BCCI has drawn that line and held it across two tournaments, two teams, and two years.

No ACC President before Naqvi has had consecutive trophy presentations boycotted by the sport’s most powerful board.

The Financial Reality Pakistan Cricket Ignores

The tweet in this story references former PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja telling Pakistan to know its place in world cricket. The sarcasm lands because Raja himself laid out the numbers that make it sting.

“PCB depends on the ICC for 50% of its funds, and 90% of the ICC’s funds come from the BCCI. If tomorrow the Indian PM says the BCCI will not fund the PCB, our board will collapse.”

Ramiz Raja, former PCB Chairman

That is not commentary. It is arithmetic.

The PCB receives roughly half its operational funding from the ICC’s revenue distribution. The ICC generates approximately 90% of its revenue from BCCI-driven broadcast deals, sponsorships, and India’s global viewership. The money that pays Pakistani players, funds domestic tournaments, and keeps the PCB functioning traces back to Indian cricket’s commercial dominance.

Wasim Akram said there is nothing left in Pakistan cricket. Michael Vaughan called them a second-division side at Lord’s. Shoaib Akhtar labelled Headingley Pakistan cricket’s lowest point. The voices saying this are not outsiders. They are Pakistan’s own legends.

Naqvi is holding two trophies hostage against the board that underwrites his own organization’s survival. The men’s Asia Cup trophy has been in Dubai for a year. The women’s trophy joined it this week. Neither will move until Naqvi moves.

Insider Read

Any cricket administrator who has sat in a board meeting where ICC revenue distribution is discussed knows one number: India’s share of global cricket viewership. It is not a negotiating position. It is the economic foundation of the sport outside England and Australia. When you hold that board’s trophy in your office and dare them to come collect it, you are not making a power play. You are demonstrating that you do not understand where the power actually sits. Naqvi’s three roles gave him the platform. They did not give him the leverage he thinks they did.

Naqvi’s term as ACC President runs until April 2027. Under the ACC’s rotation policy, the presidency passes to a new member board at that point. The expectation across cricket administration is straightforward: the incoming president hands both trophies to the BCCI, and the matter closes without ceremony.

That is seven more months of two Asia Cup trophies sitting unclaimed in an office in Dubai. Seven months of the ACC’s credibility eroding every time the story resurfaces. And seven months of Pakistan cricket’s leadership proving Ramiz Raja’s point for him.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister can hold the trophies. Pakistan’s cricket board cannot afford the cost.

Also Read: