The members of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) held a meeting in Dubai on Tuesday, attended by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) representatives Rajeev Shukla, current vice-president, and former treasurer Ashish Shelar. During the meeting, ACC chair Mohsin Naqvi continued to “beat around the bush” and did not commit to giving the Asia Cup trophy and winners’ medals to India.It is learnt that Naqvi did not even acknowledge India’s tournament win in his opening remarks, and it was only after Shelar’s intervention that he congratulated India on winning the multi-nation event.
“There was no intention to resolve any matter from PCB and ACC Chair Naqvi. He had all the time to talk about everything under the sun, but didn’t acknowledge India winning. It was very strange to see how he conducted himself in the meeting,” said an official who was part of the meet on September 30.The Indian cricket board has maintained its tough stance on the matter, and secretary Devajit Saikia had said that they will lodge a strong protest during the ICC meet later this year.The same point was reiterated by Shelar, and it is understood that the Indian cricket board’s two representatives asked Naqvi to send the trophy and winners’ medals to the ACC office, but he did not agree to that.“He kept beating around the bush. Shelar put his foot down and asked him to send the trophy and medals to the ACC office, and BCCI will themselves arrange the logistics of getting it back to India. Imagine, he didn’t even agree to that. Naqvi was informed about the BCCI’s intention to lodge a protest with ICC too, since it’s a tournament approved by the ICC,” added the official.It now remains to be seen what the way forward is in this matter, as the BCCI is set to lodge a strong protest at the global cricket body’s meet in Dubai later this year. The ACC members are likely to have another meeting soon to resolve the impasse.India beat Pakistan in the Asia Cup final on Sunday but never received the trophy, as ACC chair Naqvi left the venue with it and the winners’ medals. The Indian cricket team refused to accept the trophy and medals from Naqvi, who was adamant about retaining them. This resulted in chaos, confusion, a delayed presentation, and the champions left the venue without the trophy.
