The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has started to execute its plan to retrieve the Asia Cup 2025 trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi. A dramatic incident took place after India’s refusal to accept the trophy from Naqvi’s hands following the final on Sunday. Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and a renowned political figure, decided to take the trophy and winners’ medals to his hotel room. As a result, the Indian team had to celebrate their Asia Cup triumph without the trophy.
As per a report in Dainik Jagran, the Asia Cup trophy is currently at the same hotel in Dubai where Naqvi is staying. The BCCI is reportedly discussing bringing the trophy back by getting some other cricket associations affiliated with the ACC to mediate in the matter. Naqvi has been asked to deliver the trophy to the ACC office located in Dubai Sports City, from where it can be sent to India.
The BCCI has called Naqvi’s act of taking the trophy to his hotel ‘childish and unacceptable’. The board is reportedly planning to get Naqvi removed from the position of ACC chair at the ICC AGM in November.
BCCI sources told the Hindi Daily: “Naqvi cannot take the trophy to his hotel. Now Naqvi’s days in the ACC are numbered, and he will soon be shown the door. The BCCI will launch a campaign to remove Naqvi. We will raise this issue seriously at the ICC meeting in November. Such a person should not be allowed a place in the top institutions of international cricket.”
Naqvi’s ‘Condition’ To Hand India The Trophy
According to another report in Cricbuzz, Mohsin Naqvi is willing to give India the trophy but has set a firm condition to do so. The PCB chairman wants the organisers to set up a ceremony where Naqvi will be allowed to hand over the trophy to the Indian team. Considering the political and even the cricketing relations between the two countries at present, such a condition is unlikely to be met by the BCCI.