Indian cricket team defeated Pakistan in the final of Asia Cup 2025 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium to lift a record-extending ninth title. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side was not awarded the trophy as it refused to take it from Asian Cricket Council head Mohsin Naqvi, who is a Pakistani minister and also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. The 46-year-old was on the podium during the presentation ceremony along with other officials, waiting for the Indians to arrive on the stage. However, the Indian team also refused to accept the winners’ medals from him.
As a result, Naqvi decided to cancel the presentation entirely, take the trophy and medals with him while exiting the stadium. Later, the Indian players took an indirect dig at Naqvi and posted pictures with a fake trophy.
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When the game is done, only the champions will be remembered and not the picture of a pic.twitter.com/0MbnoYABE3
— Surya Kumar Yadav (@surya_14kumar) September 28, 2025
The Asia Cup concluded with India adding another trophy to its cabinet with a five-wicket win over Pakistan in the final in Dubai on Sunday. In pursuit of a 147-run target, India’s top-order faltered and withered at 20/3 in the fourth over of the powerplay. Tilak Varma steadied the world champions’ sinking ship and injected the much-needed impetus to drive India past the finishing line.
He maintained the flow of runs with Sanju Samson and upped the ante with Shivam Dube to knock Pakistan off the perch. He completed his 4th T20I half-century in 41 balls and remained unbeaten on 69(53) as the world champions basked in the Asia Cup glory with a five-wicket triumph.
Notably, the post-match presentation was delayed by more than an hour. Eventually, when it began, and the India players turned up to collect the individual awards. Kuldeep Yadav, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma received their individual awards from other dignitaries on stage, while Salman accepted the runners-up cheque from PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
The Indian players did not acknowledge Naqvi. The ACC chairman didn’t applaud the Indian players who came up to receive their personal accolades. Simon Doull, the presenter for the host broadcaster towards the end of the ceremony, confirmed that, “I have been informed by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight. So that does conclude the post-match presentation.”
Eventually, the speculations cleared up after it was confirmed by the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia. He revealed that India had refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy during the presentation ceremony from ACC Chairman Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan’s interior minister.
(With ANI Inputs)
