Asia Cup 2025: 'It will haunt them' - Shoaib Malik slams India for refusing trophy after hard-fought win

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has sharply criticised the Indian cricket team’s decision not to accept the Asia Cup trophy after their dramatic five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the final on Sunday,

September 28. The India side declined to take the trophy because they objected to receiving it from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan’s Interior Minister and Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Malik warned that although the Indian team may view their stance as principled now, the moment could "haunt" them down the line. He noted the immense pressure the players endured, and argued that, after all that effort, refusing to collect the trophy means forfeiting a key moment of recognition.

“Just see how much pressure the players went through to win the Asia Cup. How much heat there was that they played in. They worked so hard. Why did they do all that hard work? To win the Asia Cup trophy, to win the tournament! And after they’ve worked so hard, you don’t even come to take the trophy. It was such a big achievement, and that too after such a close match. It’s a massive moment,” said Malik as quoted by The Indian Express.

“Look, today, they might be celebrating this thing like this. But down the line, after a few years, this will haunt them. They’ll think: ‘We won the trophy, we worked hard’. They are athletes and sportsmen. A sportsman’s job is to come to the ground, give your best shot, and that’s it,” he added.

According to The Indian Express, the immediate trigger for the Indian players’ refusal to accept the Asia Cup 2025 trophy from Naqvi was his recent social media activity. Naqvi had reposted several images on X, including one titled ‘Final Day’. In that picture, Pakistan cricketers, among them captain Salman Ali Agha and pacer Shaheen Afridi, were shown wearing flight suits with airborne fighter jets in the background. This post followed an earlier one during the tournament, where Naqvi shared an image of Cristiano Ronaldo alongside a depiction of a crashing airplane.

“I have never seen a champion (team) not getting a trophy. We deserved it. The real trophies are my 14 colleagues and they will stay in my memory,” Suryakumar Yadav said in the post-match press conference.