The Indian women’s cricket team made a big deal out of winning the Women’s Asia Cup 2026, but the celebrations took an unexpected turn when the trophy was being presented in Dubai. Instead of attending the ceremony to collect the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the team did not go.
In the final on September 13, India won against Sri Lanka by 72 runs to secure their eighth Women’s Asia Cup title, an achievement that extends their record. Having scored 183 runs, India’s bowlers kept Sri Lanka to 111 and thus achieved a convincing win.
The post-match ceremony, though, was delayed by over 40 minutes. Naqvi, who is in addition the minister of interior and chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, was at the ceremony. The Indian players didnot come forward to the stage and so did not take the trophy or their medals.
Amol Muzumdar, India’s head coach, later stated that the decision had been made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He added that the team accepted the board’s decision and emphasized that what mattered to them was winning the tournament.
Devajit Saikia, who is the secretary of the BCCI, stated that the board had notified the ACC prior to the final that the Indian team would not take the trophy from Naqvi if Naqvi was there. He called the decision one that had been made considering the circumstances and the feelings that existed in India.
This situation was just like the one that occurred at the men’s Asia Cup in 2025, when India had also refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi. The fact that such incidents have taken place again has once more brought the political tensions between India and Pakistan to the forefront of international cricket.
Even though the match ended in an unusual way, the Indian players celebrated their success following the final. The team then took a group photograph with the coaching staff, thus achieving their eighth victory in the Asia Cup without the customary trophy presentation.
The BCCI has stated that steps are being taken to get the trophy back to India; for the moment, the team is returning to India as champions of the Asia Cup, even though the victory in the tournament has been overshadowed by the presentation ceremony, which became a major topic of discussion outside the world of cricket.
