Will Suryakumar Yadav Receive Trophy from Mohsin Naqvi if Team India Wins Asia Cup 2025 Final?

Add as a preferred source on Google

Dubai, Sep 15: The Asia Cup 2025 has taken a controversial turn with the "no handshake" stance of the Indian cricket team against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.

The fallout has now raised a critical question: if India go on to win the tournament final on September 28, will the team accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi?

The controversy erupted after India's seven-wicket victory over Pakistan, when Indian players refused to exchange handshakes with their counterparts. Captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Gautam Gambhir clarified that the decision was a show of solidarity with the victims of the terror attack in which 26 Indians lost their lives. "Some things are above sportsmanship. This victory is for our armed forces," Suryakumar said.

The PCB reacted strongly, lodging complaints with both the ACC and ICC, accusing match referee Andy Pycroft of mishandling the situation. The board even demanded Pycroft's removal, claiming he influenced the toss and team-sheet exchange protocol.

Tensions between the two boards have only escalated since. While the Asia Cup is governed by the ACC and not the ICC, the symbolic role of Naqvi in handing over the trophy if India wins could become another flashpoint. Reliable sources indicate that the Indian team may not share the presentation dais with Naqvi, keeping in line with their firm stance on avoiding gestures of normalisation with Pakistan.

The situation brings back memories of similar geopolitical standoffs in sports, such as Ukrainian players refusing handshakes with Russian and Belarusian opponents post-2022, or the uneasy optics in past USA-Iran football encounters. Yet, India's refusal has drawn global attention because of the high-profile nature of Indo-Pak cricket.

For the BCCI and team management, the stance is clear: matches in multi-nation events will continue due to international obligations, but displays of camaraderie will not.

With cricket entering the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and India's ambitions of hosting major global events in the 2030s, avoiding Pakistan outright is not an option. However, symbolic gestures like handshakes-or even accepting a trophy from a Pakistani official-are no longer guaranteed.

As the tournament approaches, the sporting world will watch closely: if India triumphs, will they take the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, or will cricket's most heated rivalry enter uncharted territory?