BCCI gets Lankan, Afghan support on Asia Cup trophy fiasco but Naqvi refuses to budge

The deadlock over the Asia Cup trophy, which is yet to reach champions India, continues to be unresolved as the Asian Cricket Council's Pakistani head Mohsin Naqvi has refused to part with it despite a fresh missive from the BCCI, backed by boards of Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

A top ACC source told PTI that Naqvi has insisted that a BCCI representative collect the trophy from him at the body's headquarters in Dubai but the Indian board has rejected that stance. The BCCI has reiterated that it will raise the matter in an ICC meeting next month.

"The BCCI secretary (Devajit Saikia), BCCI's ACC representative Rajeev Shukla and representatives of other member boards including Sri Lanka Cricket and Afghanistan had written to the ACC president last week over handing the trophy to India," the ACC source said.

"But his response was that someone from BCCI should come to Dubai and take the trophy from him. So, that matter has still not moved. BCCI has made its stance clear that it won't be receiving the trophy from him. So, the matter will most likely be decided in the ICC meeting," he added.

The ICC is headed by former BCCI secretary Jay Shah.

The trophy has been at the ACC headquarters after the Indian team refused to accept it from Naqvi at the presentation ceremony, prompting him to walk away with it in an unprecedented turn of events on September 28.

Naqvi is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and his country's interior minister with a will-documented anti-India stance.

Responding to the latest communication from the BCCI, a letter on Naqvi's behalf maintained that he was never told in advance about the Indian players' plan to boycott the trophy handover from him.

"It was only when the ceremony was about to take place and distinguished guests had taken their place on the stage that the BCCI's representative conveyed that the Indian Cricket Team would not be receiving the Asia Cup Trophy and awards," stated the letter.

"The ACC president waited along with the distinguished guests for approximately 40 minutes to ensure that the integrity of the presentation ceremony was preserved and was not adversely affected by politics, but in vain," it added.

The letter once again urged the BCCI to send a representative along with a member of the title-winning team to collect the trophy.

"The ACC trophy rightly belongs to the Indian Cricket team and is being held in trust till such time that a BCCI office holder along with any available participating player can collect the same from the ACC President.

"Such collection would of course be accompanied with much fanfare and coverage as there should be no deviation from established practices and no precedent should be set which undermines the spirit of the game we all love," it stated.

The Indians had refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts during the entire Asia Cup as a mark of respect for the victims of Pahalgam terror attack.

On his social media account, which is withheld in India, Naqvi posted videos and memes mocking India's military action after the Pahalgam attack, throughout the Asia Cup.

Despite calls on social media to boycott the tournament, the Indian team participated and played Pakistan on every Sunday of the three-week continental event.

After the presentation fiasco, the two countries clashed at an ACC AGM as well where BCCI officials chided Naqvi for not handing over the trophy.

Sources have said that Naqvi, before leaving for Pakistan, instructed the ACC staff not to hand over or move the trophy without his instructions.