By Nikhil

Copyright timesnownews

The Indian cricket team won the Asia Cup 2025 title in Dubai on Sunday, but they still haven’t received the trophy. Despite calls for a boycott of the matches, the team won on September 28 after defeating Pakistan for the third consecutive time in the tournament. However, Team India performed its duty by viewing the clashes as merely sporting events. Despite dominating the competition, the Men in Blue don’t have the Asia Cup trophy, the coveted silverware. With Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi, who serves in a variety of capacities in Pakistan, including politics, sports, and diplomacy, taking away the trophy, this is arguably the most absurd and shameless politicization of a sporting event between India and Pakistan. Among his various responsibilities, Naqvi serves as Pakistan’s interior minister. The Men in Blue refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from a Pakistani minister in office, with whom India had had gone to war in May following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. Despite repeated requests for the handover from BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla during a regular ACC meeting in Dubai on September 30 (Tuesday), Naqvi dismissed it as off-agenda and instructed Yadav to ‘collect it in person from the ACC headquarters’. The Asia Cup trophy’s current location is the key question. Presently, the Asia Cup trophy is “held” in the ACC headquarters in Dubai. Even in Pakistan, the response against Naqvi’s theatrics and egotistical behavior has been fast. Shahid Afridi, a former all-round player, has called on Naqvi to step down as PCB chairman right away. “PCB is totally different from the Interior Ministry, so it must be kept separate,” Afridi said in an interview, referring to Naqvi’s ministerial role. These comments came after the Asia Cup controversy became politicized. Afridi has already encouraged Naqvi to take the PCB role as a full-time job following Pakistan’s Champions Trophy fiasco, so this is not his first jab. There is growing opposition to Naqvi. Continued criticism of the “orchestrated drama” by the ACC president is coming from former players and experts. According to media sources, Naqvi apologized to the BCCI only partially during the meeting and reaffirmed his belief that only a personal visit from captain Suryaumar Yadav could complete the transaction. The goal of his ACC presidency was to bring Asian cricket together. The BCCI is considering legal options through the ICC to win the trophy for team India, but Naqvi’s antics have taken things to a new level. Team India has already returned to India after three days. With only a pillow beside him, spinner Varun Chakravarthy even made a joke about “waking up next to the cup” on the internet. The trophy is still a phantom reward. According to reports, the Asia Cup trophy is still hidden away at the ACC office in Dubai, under Mohsin Naqvi’s watchful eye, like a captive, after he fled with it.