India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev on Wednesday reacted dismissively to the recent incident in which the Indian women’s cricket team refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi.
On the sidelines of the inauguration of the Nava Raipur Open 2026 golf tournament in Chhattisgarh, the President of the Professional Golf Tour of India was asked for his views on India refusing to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi.
“Tell all of them to play golf,” he said.
On Sunday, familiar scenes unfolded at the Dubai International Stadium after India beat Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final. Like the Suryakumar Yadav-led men’s team last year, Harmanpreet Kaur’s side did not come out to accept the trophy from Naqvi, who was kept waiting on the podium, resulting in a delayed start to the presentation ceremony. The ACC head then presented the runners-up cheque to the Sri Lankan unit and left the venue.
However, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia revealed that the Indian board had communicated to ACC officials, including Naqvi, that India won’t accept the trophy from the ACC chief, who also serves as the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and is a member of the Pakistan cabinet.
Saikia also explained that India’s decision not to accept the trophy was intended to show solidarity with the men’s team’s stance from last year.
“Our men’s team won the Asia Cup a year and a half ago. And our whole situation, since the April 2025 Pahalgam incident, changed after that. So, after that, there was pressure on us from our citizens that we shouldn’t keep any relations with our neighbouring country and not play cricket with them. But our government has a policy that we must play against every country in multinational tournaments…” Saikia told IANS after the match, as quoted by Sportstar.
The Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025 escalated tensions between India and Pakistan, following which India’s men’s team refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts during last year’s Asia Cup and did not accept the trophy from Naqvi. The women’s team later followed suit during the ODI World Cup and in subsequent tournaments.
