Explained: Why India plays against Pakistan but won’t accept trophies from Pak politicians originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This allows meetings at events such as the Asia Cup and ICC tournaments without resuming bilateral ties.
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BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said the trophy decision was separate from India’s participation.
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India women’s cricket team secured the Women’s Asia Cup title for a record-extending eighth time on Sunday as they beat Sri Lanka by 72 runs.
But soon after, there was another controversy about handing out the trophy, as captain Harmanpreet Kaur and the other players refused to receive the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman.
Besides, Naqvi also holds the post as Interior Minister of Pakistan.
The question that has emerged in light of this situation is, if India is unwilling to accept a trophy from a Pakistani politician, then why does it still play against Pakistan in multinational events?
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This can be answered through the differentiation between bilateral relations in sports, multinational events, and interaction with the official concerned.
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India’s position is not a blanket sporting boycott of Pakistan.
Following the deterioration in relations between the two countries after the Pahalgam attack in April 2025, the Indian government clarified that it would not engage in bilateral sporting contests with Pakistan. However, Indian teams could continue to participate in multinational tournaments where Pakistan is one of several participating nations.
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That means India will not arrange or participate in a traditional bilateral cricket series against Pakistan, but it can face its neighbours when both teams qualify for an Asia Cup, World Cup or any another multinational competition.
“Our government has a policy that we must play against every country in multinational tournaments…” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia clarified as he was quoted by IANS after India beat Sri Lanka in Sunday’s Women’s Asia Cup final.
This is why India and Pakistan can still meet on the cricket field despite the absence of bilateral cricket between the two countries.
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In fact, the two sides have not played a bilateral cricket series since 2012-13, with their meetings since then largely coming in multinational tournaments.
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The trophy issue is not the same as whether India takes part in the game.
Not only is Naqvi a cricket administrative head in Pakistan, but he is also a top-ranking politician of his country, along with being the chairman of PCB and the ACC president.
Saikia said, “Our men’s team won the Asia Cup a year and a half ago. And our whole situation, since the April 2025 Pahalgam incident, changed after that.”
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He explained that although the government’s policy involves playing all countries in all multinational games, it does not always mean accepting all conditions that come along with that.
“Our military conflict is still ongoing. One of the main leaders (Naqvi) who is working against the interests of our country; we can’t receive the trophy from him,” Saikia stated.
MORE:BCCI reveals why India Women snubbed Mohsin Naqvi at Asia Cup final
No.
Just as the Indian men’s team continued playing against Pakistan in multilateral tournaments after the policy’s announcement in 2025, the Indian women’s team played all their assigned matches at the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 – including defeating Pakistan by 7 wickets in a group-stage game.
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also been taking into account the sporting reality around India-Pakistan games.
As such, for ICC events in the current rights cycle, the ICC has arranged neutral venues for India-Pakistan games held in either country’s territory.
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This issue is expected to be part and parcel of the India-Pakistan cricket dialogue for as long as the two sides continue to meet in multinational competitions.
At the moment, India’s stance is unequivocal: Indian teams are free to participate in international games along with their Pakistani counterparts but not to revive the bilateral sporting relationship.
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The trophy controversy further complicates things. India is free to participate in a competition without necessarily going along with every other formality associated with it.
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