India defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the final to clinch the Asia Cup for the ninth time.
Former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik shared his thoughts on Team India's decision not to collect the Asia Cup trophy from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi.
The Men in Blue defeated their arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets in the final to clinch the continental crown for the record-extending ninth time.
However, India’s triumph was marred by a controversy at the presentation ceremony, where the Suryakumar Yadav-led side refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi, who is also the Interior Minister of Pakistan.
Throughout the tournament, Naqvi shared anti-India sentiments on social media. He also demanded match referee Andy Pycroft’s removal after the no-handshake row in the group-stage fixture between India and Pakistan.
Despite India's refusal to accept the trophy from him, Naqvi remained on stage, and the silverware was never handed over. The Asian champions were ready to receive the trophy from Emirates Cricket Board vice-chairman Khalid Al Zarooni, who was also present on the dais, but Naqvi did not allow this.
The ceremony concluded prematurely, with presenter Simon Doull announcing that India would not receive their winners' medals. Naqvi then quickly got down from the stage and made his way out of the stadium. He reportedly took the trophy and medals with him.
In a video shared by Tapmad on YouTube, Malik addressed the controversy, saying that India might regret their decision somewhere down the line.
"Just look at how much pressure the players went through, how much heat they endured, how much hard work they put in. For what? To win the trophy, to win the tournament," Malik said.
"And then, when they worked so hard, they didn't even come to take the trophy. You see, today they may be celebrating this decision in their own way, but down the line, after a few years, this will haunt them. We won the trophy, we worked so hard, but we never collected it," he added.
"At the end of the day, they are athletes, they are sportsmen. A sportsman's job is to come onto the field, give your best shot, and that's it. This was such a massive achievement, such a close match, and not collecting the trophy-it means missing out on the moment. It was a massive moment," he further remarked.
Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has made it clear that the Indian board will be registering a protest against Mohsin Naqvi at the ICC meeting later this year.
"We have decided not to take the Asia Cup 2025 trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main leaders of Pakistan. So we decided not to take it from him. But that does not mean that the gentleman will take away the trophy with him, along with the medals. So it is very unfortunate and we hope that the trophy and the medals will be returned to India as soon as possible...There is an ICC conference in November in Dubai. In the next conference, we are going to launch a very serious and very strong protest against the act of the ACC chairperson," Saikia told ANI.