The Asia Cup is over, but the drama is not over. The award ceremony began more than an hour after India became champions by defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by 5 wickets. Mohsin Naqvi, the head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), was still on stage, but he was silent for once.
The Pakistani players received the runners-up medals from BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul. Naqvi and Aminul handed over the runners-up cheques together. The Indian cricketers received their awards from other guests.
The drama reached its peak at the end of the award ceremony. Naqvi started walking down the stage. The guests also walked down with him. Because the champion Indian team refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi. Apart from being the ACC and PCB chief, Naqvi’s other identity is as Pakistan’s Interior Minister.
Indian media claimed that the Indian government had prohibited cricketers from taking the trophy from Naqvi’s hands. Therefore, the trophy was taken inside after the award ceremony.
After Naqvi left, the Indian cricketers went on stage and took pictures without the trophy.
Earlier, the stage for the award ceremony was prepared after the match ended, but the Pakistani cricketers were not seen there at first. When they arrived about fifty minutes later, the wait for the award ceremony to begin was still not over.
Indian cricketers stood on one side the entire time, accompanied by their family members.
Meanwhile, news spread that the Indian cricketers did not want to receive the trophy from Asian Cricket Council President Mohsin Naqvi. The prize distribution ceremony began with uncertainty as to whether they would ultimately do so or not.
All the awards were given one by one. However, the Indian cricketers did not accept any of the awards from Naqvi who was standing on the stage. Then, a strange scene was witnessed – all the guests left the stage just as the trophy was being handed over to the champion team.
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