Asia Cup trophy row: ‘Ice broken’ with Mohsin Naqvi, says BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia; issue to be resolved soon

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has revealed that the ‘ice has been broken’ in the standoff betweeen PCB and ACC chairman Mohsin Naqvi and the Indian cricket board over the Asia Cup trophy row.

Saikia told PTI that the BCCI and Naqvi have resolved to settle the trophy row amicably.

Negotiations with Naqvi took place in the sidelines of the ICC meeting, and both sides will work towards resolving the issue at the earliest, Saikia also told PTI.

Saikia said, “So there were a series of meetings in Dubai in the ICC and the final day that was yesterday, there were two meetings. One is the informal board meeting and then followed by the formal board meeting. In both meetings, the Pakistan Cricket Board's chairperson, Mr Mohsin Naqvi, was present. I represented BCCI. During the formal meeting, there was no discussion of this issue because it was not on the agenda.”

“However, at our request, the ICC has facilitated a meeting between Mr Naqvi and me on the sidelines of the board meeting. We had a cordial discussion on the issue. Both sides had understood that this had to be sorted out. Both sides are positive to sort it out at the earliest possible time. So the first step has been taken,” he also added.

Saikia revealed that options will be provided by both sides and they will be working on the same with the help of an intermediary from the ICC.

“So we must have a little patience. We are working on it,” he said.

The ICC Chief Executives' Committee met on 5 November in Dubai, which was followed by the ICC Board meeting on 7 November. Although the Asia Cup matter was not on the official agenda, it was discussed on the sidelines of the meeting.

Tensions between BCCI and PCB

Tensions have been brewing between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after India refused to collect the Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi after defeating Pakistan in the final of the tournament. Naqvi, seeing that India will not be collecting the trophy from him, took the trophy away.

In October, the BCCI had written a letter to Naqvi, telling him to hand over the trophy to India. But Naqvi remained defiant, and asked the Indian cricket board to send an Indian player to attend a ceremony and collect the trophy from him.

The 2025 Asia Cup tournament was marred by a series of controversies as India and Pakistan met on three occasions, with the men in blue coming out victorious in all of them.

Players from both sides face punishment

Among the moments that created controversy were Suryakumar Yadav's stance of not shaking hands with Pakistani players before, after, or during the match. Then came Pakistan bowler Haris Rauf, who agitated Indian fans with hand gestures of a plane crash, which people have seen as a reference to Pakistan's unsubstantiated claims of having drowned Indian fighter jets during Operation Sindoor.

Jasprit Bumrah, after getting Rauf out in the final, also responded with a similar gesture. Pak batter Sahibzada Farhan also added fuel to the fire during the Super Four clash between the two sides, where he made gun firing gestures while celebrating his half century in the match. Here's a look at top five India vs Pak controversies during the Asia Cup tournament:

The players were later punished by the ICC for breaching the game's codes of conduct. Rauf was handed a two-match suspension from ODIs and fined 30% of his match fees for his actions and was also handed four demerit points.

While Yadav was also fined 30% of his match fees, both Bumrah and Farhan were let go after official warnings.