Dubai. The Indian team won the Women's Asia Cup 2026 title by defeating Sri Lanka by 72 runs, but even after becoming the champion, Team India led by Harmanpreet Kaur could not get the trophy. After the finals ended at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Sunday (September 13), there was a standoff over the trophy at the awards ceremony.
Shortly before the end of the title match, the current chairman of Asian Cricket Council (ACB) and PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) chief Mohsin Naqvi reached the stadium. Naqvi himself wanted to hand over the trophy to the winning Indian team. But this was not agreed upon by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). After this, the award distribution ceremony was delayed and talks took place between the two parties behind the scenes. The Indian side had put forward the option of getting the trophy to ACC Vice President Khalid Al Zarooni, but this proposal was not accepted.
In the end Mohsin Naqvi handed over the runner up check to the Sri Lankan team. Along with him, Khalid Al Zarooni, Sri Lanka Cricket Transformation Committee head Eran Wickramaratne, Emirates Cricket Board Secretary General Mubashir Usmani and representatives of title sponsor DP World were present on the stage. BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia and Vice President Rajeev Shukla were at the stadium, but did not share the stage. Both of them met the Indian team on the field. The prize distribution ceremony ended without giving the winning trophy and medals to the Indian team.
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A picture-perfect moment to cap off a successful and unbeaten #WomensAsiaCup campaign🏆#TeamIndia | #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/gzmoDKtUL9
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 13, 2026
'Tamasha' took place on the same ground in 2025 also
This matter refreshed memories of the Men's Asia Cup of September 2025. Then the Indian team led by Suryakumar Yadav had won the title by defeating Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium itself, but a similar deadlock had emerged regarding handing over the trophy. Even at that time Mohsin Naqvi was the ACC chief and the Indian team had refused to accept the trophy from him. Even after almost a year, BCCI did not change its stand in the Women's Asia Cup.
When Indian women's team head coach Amol Majumdar was asked about this development, he made it clear that the team is with the BCCI's stand. He said that the tournament is over for India and the team is proud that it won the Asia Cup. He also said that India was shown as the champion on the big screen of the stadium. Majumdar reiterated that now the team's focus is on the next big goal i.e. the Asian Games.