Dubai, 29 Sept

In an unprecedented turn of events, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, in his capacity as the chairman of Asian Cricket Council (ACC), denied the Indian cricket team the Asia Cup Trophy, after it refused to accept the silverware from him.

It was 90 minutes of pure drama at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium after India won the Asia Cup, beating Pakistan by five wickets in a thrilling final here on Sunday.

However, what happened after a high-octane game of cricket overshadowed the performance on the 22 yards.

The Indian players were soon out on the field with some of the players being accompanied by their respective families. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav's wife Devisha, head coach Gautam Gambhir's wife and daughters were on the ground as everyone was in good spirits.

Exactly 20-25 yards from where the 'Men In Blue' gathered, another melee was formed with ACC and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi standing with his coterie.

It is learnt that BCCI had informed their ACC points-person that the team won't take the award from Naqvi, who has a pronounced anti-India stance.

Naqvi had posted cryptic videos of Cristiano Ronaldo's plane crash gesture celebrations, a reference to the Pakistani claims that six Indian jets were downed during 'Operation Sindoor' in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Naqvi was also behind Pakistan's demand that ICC charge Suryakumar with a Level 4 offence for standing by the Indian Army and showing solidarity with victims of Pahalgam terror attack. The Indian team had also maintained a 'no handshake' policy with regards to Pakistan during the tournament.

For the first one hour of the delayed presentation, none of the Pakistan players were on the ground for the ceremony.

It is learnt that the Indian team was game to receiving the trophy from anyone else among the dignitaries on the podium save Naqvi. Dubai Sports City Khalid Al Zarooni, who was also on the dais, was even expected to present India with the Asia Cup.

However, amid the BCCI's clear stand, the Indian players didn't want to go up on stage till Naqvi was around and the PCB chairman did not oblige.

"BCCI would have lodged official protest if Naqvi had tried to forcefully hand over the trophy," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

In this backdrop, post-match presenter Simon Doull made announcement for the individual sponsors' awards as it is mandatory to acknowledge the stakeholders and investors of the event.

Once the individual awards were given and the Pakistan team collected their prizes from Bangladesh Cricket Board president Aminul Islam Bulbul, Doull announced: "I have been informed by the Asian Cricket Council that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight. So that does conclude the post-match presentation."

As Naqvi got down from the podium and strode towards the exit gate, the ACC event staff, to everyone’s surprise also walked away with the trophy leaving everyone flummoxed.

BCCI to lodge strong protest

The BCCI will lodge a "very strong protest" in the next ICC meeting in November against Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi, who walked away with the Asia Cup trophy after the Indian team refused toaccept 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."

"So far as the trophy is concerned, trophy distribution, India cannot take the trophy from the person who is waging a war against our 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 won all the seven matches at the group stage. India won all the three matches. Thereafter in the group of four they won the matches and finally also," he said.

"Out of these seven matches, India won against Pakistan 3-0. So this is a big victory and (a) big time cricket achievement for the country."

On the team's decision to play the tournament despite massive criticism of engagement with Pakistan in the backdrop of Pahalgam terror attack, Saikia said the Board has followed the policy set by the Indian government.

"...when it is a bilateral tournament, India is not going to play against Pakistan or any other hostile country and BCCI has been doing it for last 12 to 15 years," he said.

"And now the Government has said that in multinational tournaments -- Asia Cup is a multinational tournament --, or an international tournament where a lot of other countries are also involved. In those tournaments, Indian team, whether it is cricket or football, we have to play."

"Otherwise, our other games will suffer or the federation will be banned by international federations, so we followed the policy of the central government. We participated inspite of the fact that there are some protests or some resistance from some quarters," he continued.

Saikia said beating Pakistan across three games of this Asia Cup will bring "happiness to our people".

"Today, with this handsome win over Pakistan and the thumping victory of 3-0, I am sure we will bring a lot of happiness to our people. The country is really proud of the performance of Indian cricket team," he said.

He also asked Naqvi to return the Championship trophy and individual medals as soon as possible.

"But that does not mean that the gentleman will take away the trophy with him, along with the medals. So it is very unfortunate and we hope that the trophy and the medals will be returned to India as soon as possible."