LAHORE: It seems the India-Pakistan tussle at the recently-concluded Asia Cup staged in the UAE is not going away anytime soon.

While categorically denying media reports suggesting he had apologised to the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) over the Asia Cup trophy fiasco after the high-octane final between India and Pakistan, Pakistan Cricket Boa­rd chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday said “if they truly want it, they can collect it from me” at the ACC office.

“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. This fabricated nonsense is nothing but cheap propaganda, aimed only at misleading their own people. Unfortunately, India continues to drag politics into cricket, damaging the very spirit of the game,” Mohsin, who is also Pakistan’s Federal Interior Minister as well as the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), said on his X account.

“As ACC Chairman, I was ready to hand over the trophy [to Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav] that very day and I am still ready now. If they truly want it, they are welcome to come to the ACC office and collect it from me,” he added.

Defending champions India edged Pakistan by five-wickets in a last-over thriller to win the Asia Cup title at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.

However, the post-final scenario at the venue created a farce — as the presentation was delayed for over an hour — when it emerged that the Indian team had refused to receive the winning trophy from Mohsin who was present at the occasion. Following the Indian team’s refusal, Mohsin waited to hand over the trophy to India at the stadium before leaving the venue

The eight-nation Asia Cup remained under spotlight due to political strains between India and Pakistan, the nuclear-armed neighbours, who were competing in an international cricket event four months after a brief but intense military conflict in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgaam attack that killed 26 local tourists in the Indian-occupied Kashmir.

The tension between New Delhi and Islamabad spilled over into the cricketing field during the Sept 9-28 Asia Cup staged in the UAE when Indian cricketers refused to shake hands with their Pakistan counterparts when the arch-rivals met in their group stage match in Dubai. Suryakumar was widely criticised for politicising the Asia Cup when he mentioned Pahalgaam incident and Indian armed forces during his post-ma­tch talk and subsequent news conference.

The Pakistan camp, on their part, had avoided media interaction on the occasion of the India match. The tense situation remained the same, rather aggravated as on-field verbal skirmishes between some players took place, when the two sides met in the Super Four stage of the event.

On Tuesday, the issue of the Asia Cup trophy was raised by the BCCI officials during a virtual annual general body meeting of the ACC. Vice-president Rajeev Shukla and former treasurer Ashish Shelar represented the BCCI in the meeting. According to some reports, Shukla asked Mohsin, who chaired the said meeting, about the trophy but no progress was made on the subject.

According to some other media reports, Mohsin, while responding to repeated requests from the BCCI officials regarding the Asia Cup trophy during the meeting, maintained that the trophy must be received directly by the Indian captain.

While insisting that the trophy issue was not part of the ACC meeting agenda, Mohsin said that if the Indian team wanted the trophy, their captain should visit the ACC office personally to receive it.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2025