India won their record-equalling 9th Asia Cup trophy in 2025, when they defeated Pakistan in the final. However, the team did not receive a trophy, because Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) president Mohsin Naqvi did a bizzarre thing that has never been done anywhere in sporting history.
He refused to hand over the trophy and ran away with it to his hotel room, thus leaving India empty-handed. The Player of the Match in the final, Tilak Varma has revealed fresh details as to what exactly happened on that day, and how they celebrated despite not getting the trophy.
In the latest episode of Breakfast With Champions, Tilak Varma revealed that the Indian team was waiting at the ground for an hour to receive the trophy. He also revealed that he wAs lying on the ground, while pacer Arshdeep Singh was busy making reels. They had no idea about Mohsin Naqvi’s shameless act.
“We were actually waiting at the ground for one hour. If you look at the TV visuals, you’ll see that I was lying on the ground. The rest were also lying on the ground. Arshdeep Singh was busy making reels. We were just waiting, and we were thinking, ‘The trophy will come anytime now.’ It was one hour, and the trophy was nowhere to be found. We were looking around, but the trophy was nowhere to be found,” Varma said.
Arshdeep Singh Suggested No-Trophy Celebration
Team India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, celebrated in a unique way after they learned that they were not going to receive the trophy. They celebrated in the iconic way in which Rohit Sharma and team celebrated the T20 World Cup 2024 victory, with the iconic slow-motion walk. But they did this hilariously without the Asia Cup trophy in hand.
Tilak Varma revealed that it was Arshdeep Singh who came up with the idea of this unique celebration.
“Arshdeep said, let’s create an atmosphere. He said we should just celebrate in the same fashion as the T20 World Cup in 2024, minus the trophy. Abhishek Sharma, we, along with 5-6 more people, then gave our nod for the same. Then we went ahead with it,”