Kochi: Indian eves won the Asia cup beating Sri Lanka 74 runs in the finals at Dubai but refused to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi.
It was a repeat of what the men’s Indian team did last year when Surya Kumar Yadav refused to accept the cup from Naqvi, India Today reported.
Ironically, he was seen seated alongside BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla, secretary Devajit Saikia and other officials.
The Indian players gathered around head coach Amol Muzumdar, who addressed the squad following their triumph. Saikia and Shukla presented the fielding medal to Nandani Sharma.
Saikia also spent time with the players, congratulating them on their title-winning campaign.
Naqvi eventually took the stage and presented the runners-up cheque to Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu.
After that, Naqvi left the stadium, but the trophy wasn’t seen alongside him or the rest of the officials who had accompanied him. Muzumdar said that it was a decision made by the BCCI and they stand by the call made by the board.
The Indian coach said that his team are the champions and that is good enough at the end of the day.
Saikia, who explained that the Indian team had made it clear from the outset that it was not willing to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi.
“The BCCI offered Naqvi that the Asia Cup trophy be handed over to the Indian team by ACC deputy chair Khalid Al Zarooni,” which was turned down by Naqvi.
Saikia said the BCCI then proposed another option, based on the recent practice of having a representative from the winning board present the trophy. “However, neither side was willing to compromise. “Naqvi remained adamant and the Indian team too refused to budge and refused to accept the trophy,” Saikia said.l
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