India refuse Women's Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi

Less than a year after India’s men’s team refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi in Dubai, the women’s team followed the same tradition at the same venue, the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, on September 14.

After beating Sri Lanka by 72 runs to win a record-breaking eighth Women’s Asia Cup title, the blue brigade captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, and her teammates refused to get the trophy from Naqvi during the post-match presentation ceremony.

History repeats — Indian women boycott the trophy a year after the Men's snub

There was a long wait before the presentation began, with nearly 40 minutes passing between the fall of the final wicket of Sri Lanka and the start of the presentation ceremony. The match officials were presented with their mementos before the captain, Chamari Athapaththu, and her teammates, who came forward to get their runners-up medals.

Watch India refusing to take Asia Cup 2026 from Mohsin Naqvi-

The SL captain collected the runners-up cheque from Naqvi, who was present in his capacity as the ACC president. The broadcaster ended the interview with Athapaththu without showing the Blue Brigade’s players getting their winners’ medals or the trophy.

It was the same situation during the Asia Cup 2025 at the same venue, when India’s refusal to receive the trophy from Naqvi pushed them to a presentation ceremony that added an hour after the game ended. India won the clash of the final against Pakistan when Tilak Varma smashed an unbeaten 69-run knock.

Shafali and Mandhana's 129-run blitz sets up a dominant 72-run win over Sri Lanka

India, batting first, during the final, posted a strong score of 183 runs for the loss of five wickets in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to the opening partnership of 129 runs between Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. The former smashed 59 runs off 39 balls at a strike rate of 151.28 while Verma clubbed 68 runs off 39 balls.

Sri Lanka, in reply, were bundled out for 111 runs in 20 overs as most of their batters failed to convert their starts into big innings. Most of their batters got starts but failed to capitalize. Shree Charani returned with figures of 4/20 in four overs while Deepti Sharma returned with 3/19, losing the encounter by 72 runs.

Brief Scores: India 183/5 (Shafali Verma 68, Smriti Mandhana 59, Mithali Ayodhya 1/33) beat Sri Lanka 111 (Chamari Athapaththu 36, Shree Charani 4/20) by 72 runs.