Devajit Saikia & Harmanpreet Kaur at Press Conference, ACC Chief Mohsin Naqvi (In Circle) | AFPBCCI secretary Devajit Saikia was once again in the news after India Women decided not to take the Women’s Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, who is not only the PCB’s chairman but also the chairman and president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).The reason behind India not collecting medals and the trophy from Naqvi was not due to him being the PCB chief, but because he is an interior minister of Pakistan. Since geopolitical relations between India and Pakistan worsened after what happened in Pahalgam last year, the BCCI decided not to even allow Indian players to shake hands with Pakistan’s counterpart.What Was BCCI’s Solution To Avoid Trophy Controversy?In a conversation with India Today, Saikia told how the controversy over medals and the trophy could have been avoided. He highlighted that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chairman Shammi Silva gave Sri Lanka Asia Cup trophies when both the men's and women's teams won the title in 2022 and 2024.Saikia said he had made the same request to ACC to keep the old norms, only to see them, headed by Mohsin Naqvi, reject the idea. However, Saikia did not give the idea directly to ACC, saying he spoke with Jay Shah, the current ICC chairman, to convey it.Devajit Saikia's Words On Asia Cup Controversy“And as you are asking what happened after India won the final match today, we made a request to all the concerned persons that, keeping the tradition of the Asia Cup, in earlier times, when Bangladesh won, when Sri Lanka won, our former ACC chairperson, who is the ICC chair now, Jay Shah, there was a norm that the winning team would get the trophy from their country’s board’s head," BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told India Today.Also Read: BCCI Had Already Informed Mohsin Naqvi About Not Taking Trophy After India's Win- Report“If you look at Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on earlier occasions, and also for BCCI, once winning, the head of the country, either the secretary or the president, was to hand over the trophy. This norm has been changed drastically in the last, in 2024-25, when India won the men’s Asia Cup trophy. I don't want to get into this controversy, but the only thing is that the tradition should be maintained," he added.Saikia Points Out ACC Deputy Chair Could Help Resolve The IssueFurthermore, Saikia highlighted that the norm has changed for no reason since the Asia Cup 2025. There, India Men won the final by defeating Pakistan, but did not take the trophy from Naqvi’s hands.BCCI secretary revealed that they even requested the ACC to allow Khalid Al Zarooni, BCCI’s deputy chairman, to hand over the trophy. However, the ACC did not allow the idea either.“That is what our request was today also. It was not hidden today, and we requested that we not change our stance. Our stand is about one and a half years old now. Because of our stand, we have yet to receive the trophy for the men’s Asia Cup. So we cannot change it.”“We can say that the deputy chairman of the ACC can hand over the trophy. That was our request, so that all these controversies can be avoided, because everybody knows what is happening on the ground.”Notably, Sri Lanka players received the medals during the post-Women’s Asia Cup presentation, but it abruptly ended once India decided to walk off.Also Read: Mohsin Naqvi's Reaction Goes Viral As India Refuses Women's Asia Cup Trophy From Him
