Dubai: Like the neighbourhood bully who leaves with his bat after being dismissed cheaply in a friendly game, Mohsin Naqvi departed with the Asia Cup trophy, his ego severely dented after India steadfastly refused to accept their hard-earned reward from Pakistan’s interior minister.

The unpleasantness on Sunday night at the end of a near-flawless campaign took some sheen off India’s unprecedented ninth trophy run in the continent’s flagship event.

Naqvi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is also the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and insisted that it was his right to hand over the trophy to the Indian captain. Suryakumar Yadav fooled no one when he insisted at the press conference which began well past midnight that it was the team’s call not to receive the

See Full Page