Former India cricketer Madan Lal was highly critical of Mohsin Naqvi after the latter denied the Men in Blue of the Asia Cup trophy. This comes after the Indian team were not handed the title following their victory over Pakistan in the final. They had refused to take the trophy from Naqvi and eventually had to return back to their hotel empty-handed. Madan firmly stated that Naqvi has no knowledge of the sport and added that he destroyed his and his country's reputation by not handing India the trophy.
"All these things should not have happened. When players lift that trophy in front of the fans, or on live TV, that is when it looks good," Madan told India Today.
"Mohsin Naqvi has no knowledge of the sport. How a sport should be played, how one should behave. There were so many people from the Indian team who were standing on the dais afterwards. He should have told someone else to give the trophy to the Indian team. The PCB chief has destroyed his and his country's reputation," he added.
Madan didn't stop there and went on to question why the Indian team should go to the Asian Cricket Council's (ACC) office in Dubai to receive the trophy that they have deservedly won. He further added that the Men in Blue should have rather celebrated with the trophy on the field.
"Why should Suryakumar Yadav go to the Asian Cricket Council office to collect the trophy? India won, you should have let them celebrate with the trophy on the ground. But of course, he does not have any knowledge, in their country everything is decided by the armed forces," Madan concluded.
Naqvi wants to hand the trophy to India himself
Meanwhile, the drama surrounding the Asia Cup trophy doesn't seem to end anytime soon as Naqvi is adamant on giving the title to the Indian team. In a latest post on social media Naqvi clearly stated that he didn't do anything wrong by denying Suryakumar Yadav & Co. from the trophy and added that they can collect it from the ACC office anytime.
Notably, Naqvi had also been involved in a heated argument with BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla during ACC's meeting on Sunday. Shukla had asked strong questions from the PCB chief regarding his decision to not hand the trophy to India. Naqvi went on to defend himself by pointing out that the ACC hadn't informed him that the Men in Blue will not be taking the trophy from him. The matter wasn't solved in the meeting as Naqvi stated that he will discuss about it on a different platform. It remains to be seen as to when will India finally get their hands on the Asia Cup trophy that they deservedly won.