India welcome to collect trophy from me: Naqvi

ISLAMABAD:

Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi, who also heads Pakistan's cricket board, said Wednesday that India are "welcome" to collect their Asia Cup trophy from his office in Dubai.

India defended their Asia Cup title by defeating Pakistan on Sunday, but refused to take the winning prize from Naqvi, who is also Pakistan's interior minister.

The Indian players instead celebrated retaining their regional crown by mimicking holding a trophy, and later skipper Suryakumar Yadav said they were denied the trophy.

"As ACC President, I was ready to hand over the trophy that very day and I am still ready now," Naqvi said on X.

"If they truly want it, they are welcome to come to the ACC office and collect it from me."

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Asia Cricket Council (ACC) Chairman Meanwhile, Naqvi refuted claims by Indian media that he had apologised to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the trophy handover issue at Sunday's Asia Cup final.

Several Indian outlets, including IndiaToday, Financial Express and Hindustan Times, reported that Naqvi had now apologised to the BCCI, but that he still refused to hand them the trophy.

Responding to an India Today post about their report on social media platform X, Naqvi stated, "Indian media thrives on lies, not facts. Let me make it absolutely clear: I have done nothing wrong and I have never apologised to the BCCI nor will I ever do so."

He called the claims "fabricated nonsense" and "cheap propaganda", saying it was aimed at misleading Indian people.

The PCB chairman slammed India for continuing to "drag politics into cricket, damaging the very spirit of the game".

The regional tournament was dominated by political posturing between the players as the two rivals met three times and the final ended in high drama when the presentation was delayed by one hour.

The T20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates was the first time the Asian cricket giants had met since a deadly military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.

Suryakumar refused to shake hands with Pakistan captain Salman Agha in their first meeting and the deadlock continued in the next two matches -- all won by India.

Players from both teams also resorted to signals and gestures aimed to mimic each other's military highs during the four-day conflict.

Both countries claimed victory in the conflict that killed more than 70 people in missile, drone and military fire on each side.

India and Pakistan only meet in cricket on neutral territory in international tournaments because of long-simmering tensions between the arch-rivals.

(With additional input from News Desk)