THE Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reiterated its demand for the handover of the Asia Cup Trophy that the Indian team won by defeating Pakistan in the final in Dubai last month.

In a letter to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the BCCI emphasised that the trophy rightfully belonged to India, having won it in the September 28 final. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi is the ACC president.

“Yes, we have written to the ACC asking them that the trophy be handed over to India,” BCCI secretary, Devajit Saikia, told Cricbuzz on Wednesday (October 22).

“We have also informed the ACC that if it fails to comply, we will raise the matter at the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting,” he added. The ICC meeting, as is well known, is scheduled in Dubai from November 4 to 7.

The deadlock over the Asia Cup trophy stems from Mohsin Naqvi’s unyielding stand that he must be allowed to present the trophy to the winners, despite the Indian team’s clear stance that they would not accept it from him.

The Indian team’s position is, understandably, influenced by the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor – the armed conflict against Pakistan – and they have made no bones about it, during and since the Asia Cup.

After Suryakumar Yadav’s team refused to take the prize from Naqvi, he ordered it be locked in the ACC office in Dubai. On October 17, the PCB chief left instructions with the ACC staff that the silverware not be moved without his authorisation.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Naqvi repeated his stand and wants the Indian captain or a player to be present in Dubai in the first week of November to receive it. “Bring one of your players and receive the trophy,” Naqvi reportedly told the media in Islamabad on Tuesday. The Indian team is currently in Australia and have international engagement till November 8, when the fifth and final T20I against India is to be played.

In any case, the Indian team, the BCCI, and the Indian side are clear that they will not accept the silverware from Naqvi’s hands, leaving the matter in a continued state of deadlock. All eyes will now be on the November 4-7 ICC meeting in Dubai, where a resolution may be hammered out. (Cricbuzz)