India win the Asia Cup but no trophy presentation... again
Harmanpreet Kaur and Shafali Verma are delighted after the Asia Cup victory • ACC
The presentation ceremony was delayed by nearly 50 minutes, with Asian Cricket Council chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the PCB chief and the interior minister of Pakistan, in attendance as medals were presented to runners-up, Sri Lanka, before it was abruptly ended.
As the wait for the post-tournament presentation began, the Indian team conducted their own medal presentation for the best fielder, handed out by fielding coach Subhadeep Ghosh. The medal was presented to Nandani Shami by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, with vice-president Rajeev Shukla also in attendance.
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The turn of events mirrored the men's Asia Cup final last September, which concluded with India refusing to accept the trophy from Naqvi. At the time, Saikia had said the team didn't want to take the trophy from someone who also happened to be "one of the main leaders of Pakistan."
Naqvi's presence at the presentation ceremony on Sunday was expected to be a flashpoint. Ever since cross-border tensions between Pakistan and India in May 2025, India's players avoid shaking hands with Pakistan players and their representatives. The men didn't do it last year. The women didn't do it this year.
"That stand has been taken by BCCI and we stand by it," India women's coach Amol Muzumdar said at the press conference. "For us, this tournament is over, we are the champions. That's good enough. It was on the big board that India are the champions of Asia Cup 2026. This tournament is officially over for us. We're happy that we're the champions and we look forward to the Asian Games."
Although interviewing the winning captain at the post-match presentation is the norm, Harmanpreet was interviewed separately, minutes after India sealed their 72-run win.
"I think we played to our standards because that's what we discussed when we came here. We have certain standards, and we have to keep matching them every day," she said. "We are very happy with the way we all performed. And I think the girls have done fabulously well throughout the entire tournament, setting 184 in a final. That's a big thing."
Harmanpreet reserved special praise for Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, who put on 129 for the opening wicket to set the tone, with both batters hitting aggressive half-centuries.
"We all knew it's not that easy to bat [on Dubai's slow pitches], but I think our openers did an absolutely great job for us, the way they both batted, Smriti and Shafali," Harmanpreet said. "It's all about playing good cricket, and at the end of the day, I'm very happy overall."
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