India win Women's Asia Cup final, refuse trophy from Mohsin Naqvi
India beat Sri Lanka by 72 runs in Dubai to win an eighth Asia Cup title, but declined to accept the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi
The Women's Asia Cup 2026 final was played between India and Sri Lanka at the Dubai International Stadium on September 13, with India winning in style to claim the Asia Cup title for the eighth time. India were unbeaten through the tournament and kept up their winning run in the final.
In the final, Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana starred with the bat, both scoring half-centuries. But after the match ended, the row over the no-handshake policy towards Pakistan resurfaced, as Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur clearly refused to accept the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi.
After winning the Asia Cup 2026 final, the Indian team decided not to accept the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Asian Cricket Council. Earlier, in the men's Asia Cup 2025 as well, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav had refused to accept the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi. The women's team has now followed the same course. Since the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian cricket team has been refusing to shake hands with the Pakistan cricket team.
On the match itself, India won the toss and chose to bat first. The Indian team scored 183 for 5 in 20 overs. Openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma put on 129 runs for the first wicket. Mandhana played a fine innings of 59 runs off 39 balls, while Shafali scored 68 runs off 39 balls. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur made 14 runs off 14 balls, and Richa Ghosh scored 17 runs off 13 balls.
Chasing the target, Sri Lanka got off to a slow start. Opener Chamari Athapaththu scored 36 runs off 32 balls, while Imesha Dulani made 4 runs off 4 balls. Vishmi Gunaratne scored 20 runs off 22 balls, and Nilakshika Silva made 22 runs off 16 balls. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 111 in 20 overs, and India won the match by 72 runs.
With the ball, India's Shree Charani bowled superbly, taking four wickets for 20 runs in four overs. Deepti Sharma also took three wickets for 19 runs in four overs. Priya Rawat and Kranti Goud picked up one wicket each. With this win, India created history by winning the Asia Cup trophy for the eighth time.
