Why does India keep playing Pakistan in cricket, yet refuse to accept a trophy from a Pakistani official? BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has now answered that question directly, revealing that India continues to face Pakistan in multi-team tournaments only because of a government directive that requires the country not to skip matches against any nation. However, he made it clear that ongoing military tensions between the two countries meant the team simply could not accept the Asia Cup trophy from someone seen as actively working against India’s interests.
This marks the second year in a row that the trophy situation has caused controversy. On Sunday, September 13, India’s women’s cricket team, having just won the tournament, declined to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council chairman Mohsin Naqvi who is from Pakistan.
The win was a landmark one as Harmanpreet Kaur’s India defeated Sri Lanka by 72 runs in Dubai, sealing their eighth Asia Cup title and extending their own record in the tournament. Despite the achievement, the players stayed away from the post-match presentation ceremony entirely.
Speaking to a news agency, Devajit Saikia explained the background to this ongoing standoff. He said that after the men’s team had won the Asia Cup roughly a year and a half earlier, the overall situation between the two nations shifted dramatically following the Pahalgam incident in April 2025. In the aftermath, he said there was strong pressure from the Indian public urging the cricket board to cut all ties with Pakistan’s cricket setup and stop playing against them altogether. Even so, he pointed out that the Indian government maintains a policy requiring the team to play against every nation in multi-nation tournaments but he stressed that following this policy didn’t mean they had to accept every condition attached to it.
This isn’t the first time this has happened either. Last year, the Indian men’s team had similarly refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy and medals from Mohsin Naqvi, who holds a dual role as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and Interior Minister of Pakistan.
Devajit Saikia went on to explain that with military conflict between the two countries still ongoing, the team could not accept a trophy from someone considered one of the key figures working against India’s interests. He added that the women’s team had chosen to stand in solidarity with the stance the men’s team had already taken the previous year.
With the men’s team still awaiting their trophy over a year later, one thing is clear, for India, this isn’t just about cricket anymore and the Asia Cup trophy may stay locked away for a while longer.
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