India on Sunday refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council president Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the interior minister of Pakistan, after they beat Pakistan by five wickets in the final in Dubai.
Naqvi, whose X account is withheld in India, responded on the microblogging platform to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's congratulatory post after the game. "If war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan's hands. No cricket match can rewrite that truth. Dragging war into sport only exposes desperation and disgraces the very spirit of the game," said Naqvi.
PM Narendra Modi on Sunday has applauded India's win and likened the India-Pakistan final in the Asia Cup to Operation Sindoor, and said the outcome remained the same and India won.
"Operation Sindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same - India wins! Congrats to our cricketers," wrote PM on X.
BJP leader Amit Malviya later said that the move by team India "not only slammed Pakistan on the field but also put Naqvi in his place".
“India refused to accept the Asia Cup and medals because Asian Cricket Council chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Interior Minister of Pakistan, insisted on presenting them,” Malviya posted on X.
He called Naqvi as a “chief propagandist for the terror state that Pakistan is,” and added, “We not only slammed Pakistan on the field but also put Naqvi in his place.”
While the BJP has hailed the team for putting what it called “chief propagandist” Pakistan in its place, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the Centre of giving the players a "new script to spread propaganda in the country".
AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj shared a video on social media where India captain Suryakumar Yadav is seen shaking hands with Naqvi.
"At the beginning of the series, just 15 days ago, he (Yadav) shook hands with Pakistani minister Mohsin Naqvi and even posed for a photo. But when the match was met with protests in India, the players were given a new script to spread propaganda in the country," the AAP leader tweeted.
The BCCI on Monday said it will lodge a "strong protest" in the next ICC meeting in November against Asian Cricket Council chief Naqvi, who walked away with the Asia Cup trophy after the Indian team refused to accept it from him in Dubai.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia justified the team's refusal saying that India cannot accept the trophy from a person who is "waging a war against the country."
"We have taken a decision not to accept the trophy but that does not allow the gentleman to take away the trophy and the medals to his hotel," he added.
"This is unexpected, very childish in nature and we will launch a very strong protest with ICC in the forthcoming ICC meeting to be held in Dubai in the first week of November."
India captain Suryakumar Yadav said the team had taken the decision not to receive the trophy and that "no one told us to do it".
"If you tell me about trophies, my trophies are sitting in the dressing room, all the 14 guys with me, the support staff, those are the real trophies throughout this journey in the Asia Cup," said Suryakumar.
India had refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team members in any of the three games they played this tournament, either at the toss or after the matches. While Pakistan coach Mike Hesson and captain Agha both criticised India for it, India's position did not change.