Pakistan captain Salman Agha accused India of “disrespecting cricket,” while Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav countered that his team was unfairly denied the trophy after winning a tense Asia Cup final overshadowed by ill will between the rivals.
For the third straight match, the teams refused to shake hands as India clinched a five-wicket victory Sunday in Dubai. The drama escalated after the match when Indian players declined to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council president Mohsin Naqvi, who also chairs the Pakistan Cricket Board and serves as Pakistan’s interior minister.
Instead, India’s squad celebrated by pretending to hoist the silverware.
“I think this is one thing I’ve never seen since I started playing cricket – the champion team being denied the trophy,” Suryakumar told reporters. “We took the call on the ground about not taking the trophy.”
The Twenty20 tournament in the UAE marked the first time the Asian cricket giants had met since a deadly military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors in May.
Tensions were already high after the two previous matches featured political posturing and on-field flashpoints.
“If you ask me about trophies, my trophies are in the dressing room – the 14 players and support staff. They are the real trophies for me,” Suryakumar said. “It appeared on the big screen that India are Asia Cup 2025 champions. It was a great journey and moment for us as a team.”
The presentation ceremony was delayed for an hour before announcer Simon Doull said, “I have been informed by the ACC that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight. So that does conclude the post-match presentation.”
Agha said India’s actions during the tournament were “bad for cricket.”
“I think what has happened in this tournament is very disappointing,” Agha told reporters. “If they think they disrespected us by not shaking hands, then I say they disrespected cricket. What they did today, a good team doesn’t do. Good teams do what we have done. We waited for our medals and took them.
“It’s been seen for the first time. I do not know where it will stop. What has happened in this tournament is bad for cricket.”
In Sunday’s final – India’s third win over Pakistan in as many matches – pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah bowled Haris Rauf for six and celebrated with a crashing-plane gesture. Rauf had made a similar motion in the teams’ previous meeting, appearing to mock India’s military action.
Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan had earlier mimicked a gun celebration after hitting a half-century.
India and Pakistan only face each other in international tournaments on neutral ground because of long-simmering political tensions.
Both countries claimed victory in the four-day conflict in May that killed more than 70 people in missile, drone and military fire on each side.
India called its military action against Pakistan “Operation Sindoor” – the Hindi word for vermilion, which married Hindu women wear on their foreheads. The name was widely seen as a symbol of Delhi’s vow to avenge those widowed in the April 22 attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which triggered the hostilities.
“#OperationSindoor on the games field,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X after Sunday’s win. “Outcome is the same – India wins! Congrats to our cricketers.”
Naqvi quickly responded: “If war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan’s hands.”
