BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia is hopeful of a resolution with PCB and Asian Cricket Concil (ACC) chairman Mohsin Naqvi over the Asia Cup trophy dispute after the "ice has been broken" between the two boards during the recent ICC meeting in Dubai.
"I was a part of both the informal and formal meeting of the ICC. PCB chairperson Mohsin Naqvi was also present. During the course of a formal meeting, it was not on agenda but ICC facilitated a meeting between myself and the PCB chief separately in the presence of a senior ICC office-bearer and another senior official," Saikia told PTI. "It was really good to start the process of negotiation.
"Both sides will work out something to solve the issue at the earliest. The ice has been broken now, so various options will be worked out. There will be options from the other side as well and we will also give options on how to settle this issue and come to an amicable solution."
India have not yet received the Asia Cup trophy after beating Pakistan in the final on September 28. There was a standoff at the presentation ceremony with India refusing to accept the trophy from Naqvi, the ACC and PCB chair who is also Pakistan's Interior Minister, following the cross-border skirmish between the two countries in the wake of the terror attack in Pahalgam in April.
India and Pakistan played each other three times during the Asia Cup - in the group stage, the Super Fours, and the final - with all the fixtures fraught with tension that began with India's decision not to shake hands with the Pakistan players in their first meeting on September 14. The matches were ill-tempered with Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan all receiving penalties of varying severity from the ICC for their comments or on-field actions.
After the final, the presentation ceremony was delayed by more than 90 minutes while Naqvi remained insistent that he be the person handing over the trophy to India, who did not budge from their stance. Eventually the trophy was taken away from the stage and the team has not received it to date.