CHENNAI: Much like what happened during the men's T20 Asia Cup last year, India women too refused to receive the trophy from the Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi after defeating Sri Lanka in the final on Sunday.
Leading up to the summit clash, there were questions over whether Harmanpreet Kaur and Co will receive the trophy from Naqvi, who is also Federal Minister for Interior of Pakistan. However, as the summit clash was winding down, visuals of BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, vice-president Rajiv Shukla and other officials having a brief exchange was shown on broadcast.
However, a little over 40 minutes after the match ended, while Saikia and Shukla addressed the Indian team, when the presentation finally began, India women were not on the field. And once Sri Lanka players received their runner-up medals, the presentation was concluded by the broadcaster as India refused to receive the trophy from Naqvi.
It all began last year when India and Pakistan men played each other months after the Pahalgam terror attack and the border conflicts. The Suryakumar Yadav-led team refused to shake hands with Pakistan players and furthermore did not receive the Asia Cup trophy, which is yet to be handed over to the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Now, it remains to be seen what happens to the women's Asia Cup as well. Earlier, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma scored fifties to take India to 183/5 before Deepti Sharma and NR Sree Charani bundled out Sri Lanka for 111, helping India win by 72 runs.