Rajiv Shukla has explained that India women’s team made a joint decision not to receive the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi after beating Sri Lanka in the final in Dubai. BCCI vice-president Shukla said the matter was discussed by the team before the trophy presentation. India won the final by 72 runs on Sunday and lifted the Asia Cup. Naqvi, who heads the Asian Cricket Council, did not present the trophy to the Indian players after the match.
Shukla said the decision came from the group and was not taken by any one player. The team discussed the matter among themselves and agreed on how they would handle the presentation. “We discussed the matter among ourselves and decided that we would not accept it (trophy) from him. It was our collective decision. He (Naqvi) also did not raise any objection to it,” Shukla told reporters after arriving at the Indira Gandhi International Airport with the team.
He also explained what happened once the decision had been made. Shukla said the Indian team was informed about the decision, while Naqvi continued with the presentation before leaving. “We informed our team accordingly, and he presented it to whoever he had to and then left,” Shukla added. His comments came after BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia had also spoken about the board’s position on the trophy presentation and said the decision had already been communicated.
Saikia had earlier said the BCCI had taken the decision after considering all the prevailing aspects. “We had taken a conscious decision considering all prevailing aspects, and our position had been communicated to the ACC in advance, that the Indian team would not participate in the trophy presentation under the circumstances,” Saikia had told PTI earlier. Shukla’s comments matched Saikia’s explanation and backed the position taken by the BCCI.
Some images had also surfaced showing Saikia speaking with Naqvi during the Asia Cup final. The interaction raised questions, but Shukla described it as a normal professional conversation during a cricket match. He said officials and administrators are present at matches and naturally interact with one another in their professional roles. “What Saikia ji said is absolutely correct. When you are at a match, everyone is present there and interacts in a professional capacity. Therefore, I do not think there should be so much criticism over that,” he said.
Shukla also congratulated the Indian women’s team for winning the Asia Cup and praised the players for making the country proud once again. He expressed confidence that the team would continue to win in the future. India are now heading to Japan for the upcoming Asian Games, and Shukla backed the players to perform well there too. The Asia Cup victory has given the team another major achievement before their next assignment.
The trophy presentation decision has drawn attention after India’s 72-run victory over Sri Lanka, but Shukla made it clear that it was a collective decision. He also defended Saikia’s interaction with Naqvi and said there was no reason for it to face so much criticism. “We became Asia Cup champions. Our women have once again made us proud and we will continue to win in the future. The team is now heading to Japan and we are fully confident that we will secure a victory there as well,” he said.
India will now turn their attention to the Asian Games in Japan after completing a successful Asia Cup campaign. The focus will now be on carrying that confidence into the next competition and producing another strong performance for India as they begin their campaign there in Japan ahead.
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