Women’s Asia Cup Trophy Controversy: BCCI Offered Alternative, But What Did ACC Do?

India’s women’s cricket team lifted a record-extending eighth Asia Cup title in Dubai, but the celebrations ended without the customary trophy presentation. After beating Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final, Harmanpreet Kaur and her teammates did not attend the official ceremony because ACC chairman Mohsin Naqvi was scheduled to present the trophy.

The BCCI says the decision was communicated to the Asian Cricket Council before the final and was not a last-minute call. Instead, the board had proposed alternatives for the presentation, but those suggestions were not accepted.

BCCI Says It Offered Alternatives, But ACC Did Not Agree

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia revealed that the board had made its position clear to the ACC before the final. According to him, India were prepared to participate if the trophy was presented by another ACC official rather than Naqvi.

“We communicated with ACC and yesterday I personally informed the ACC chairman that we won't be part of the presentation ceremony if it is done in the same manner as done in case of the men's cricket team, they did not want to change their position so we had no option,” Saikia told NDTV.

“We have honoured all the victims of the Pahalgam attack by not attending the ceremony,” he added.

Saikia said the BCCI had suggested either the ACC president or vice-chairman handle the presentation. He specifically said India would have attended had ACC deputy chairman Khalid Al-Zarooni presented the trophy.

“We had also requested that they could have done the presentation by the president or the vice chairman,” he said.

“If ACC deputy chairman Khalid sahab would have have done the presentation, we would have attended, this was our suggestion as well. But our suggestion was not granted so we had no other options,” Saikia concluded.

The refusal echoed the Indian men's team's decision during the previous Asia Cup, when the men's side also declined to collect the trophy from Naqvi. Saikia argued that the presentation tradition had changed in recent times.

“When present ICC chair was in ACC, it was the normal traditional practice that winning team office-bearer to hand over the trophy. But since last year, they are not following this tradition,” he added.

BCCI Confident India Will Get Both Asia Cup Trophies

Despite the controversy, Saikia insisted that India's title triumph remains the priority and predicted that both Asia Cup trophies will eventually reach the country.

“We can assure very soon we will not only get the Women's Asia Cup trophy but also the Men's Asia Cup trophy,” Saikia said.

India's women's team secured the title in emphatic fashion, defeating Sri Lanka by 72 runs after posting 183/5. Smriti Mandhana scored 59 and Shafali Verma 68, before Sree Charani's 4/20 and Deepti Sharma's 3/19 helped bowl Sri Lanka out for 111.

The BCCI is already looking beyond the Asia Cup, with the Asian Games now a major target. Saikia said the board is using the T20 format to build towards the next major challenges.

“We are basically trying to build our team in the T20 format for the ICC T20 World Cup. In T20 format in women's cricket we have challenges, and our target is the Asian Games. We are only aiming for the gold medal for both men and women's cricket in Asian Games,” he said.

India's women's side therefore leaves the Asia Cup with the title secured, even as the trophy-presentation dispute remains unresolved. The BCCI, however, appears confident that the silverware itself will eventually make its way to India.