'Trophy Gate': Defiant Naqvi refuses to budge, says India welcome to collect it from ACC office

The ACC chief also rejected reports that he apologised to BCCI officials for his actions at the presentation ceremony when he walked away with the trophy.

As the debate over 'Trophy Gate' continues, a defiant Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi refused to budge saying the Indian team is "welcome" to collect the Asia Cup trophy from him at the continental body's head office.

"As ACC President, I was ready to hand over the trophy that very day and I am still ready now. If they truly want it, they are welcome to come to the ACC office and collect it from me," Naqvi wrote in a post on X as controversy around the champions being denied the top prize continued to rage.

Naqvi, who also heads the Pakistan Cricket Board and is the country's interior minister rejected reports claiming that he, at the ACC AGM apologised to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials for his actions at the presentation ceremony when he walked away with the trophy after the Indians refused to accept it from him.

"Let me make it absolutely clear: I have done nothing wrong and I have never apologised to the BCCI nor will I ever do so," he added.

Ashish Shelar and Rajeev Shukla had represented the BCCI in the ACC AGM where they raised a strong objection over the trophy not being duly handed over to the Suryakumar Yadav-led side which beat Pakistan in the final.

Naqvi had told the BCCI officials that he was ready to give the trophy to the Indian team. However, no decision on that issue was taken in the AGM, upsetting the BCCI top brass further.

The BCCI will take the matter to the ICC which will have its meeting in November.

The two teams played each other thrice in the tournament with India winning each time, including the final. India maintained a 'no handshake policy' with Pakistan players during the event, infuriating the PCB.

The hostilities between the two neighbours are at an all-time high after the Pahalgam terror attack and the resultant Operation Sindoor.'

(with inputs from agencies