Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi on Monday warned India against “dragging war” into sports, saying that doing so only exposed India’s “desperation,” while responding to comments made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who politicised India’s Asia Cup final win against Pakistan.
In a post on X, Modi congratulated the Indian cricket team on scoring a win in the final against the Green Shirts, calling it a continuation of India’s Operation Sindoor[1], launched against Pakistan in the four-day military conflict[2] between the two countries.
“#OperationSindoor[3] on the games field. Outcome is the same — India wins! Congrats to our cricketers,” he said.
Responding to his comments, Naqvi said, “If war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan’s hands,” in an apparent reference to Pakistan’s success[4] during the conflict. He added that “no cricket match can rewrite that truth.”
“Dragging war into sport only exposes desperation and disgraces the very spirit of the game,” he said.
Earlier, the Indian cricket team refused[5] to collect the winners’ trophy from Naqvi, marking a historic low in the cricketing relations between the two countries.
“I have been informed by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight,” Simon Doull, who conducted the post-match presentation, said.
PCB donates match fee to May 7 victims
Separately, PCB announced on Monday that it would donate the team’s match fees to the civilians martyred during the May 7 Indian attack on Pakistan, after India’s SuryaKumar Yadav announced that he would donate his match fee to the victims on the Indian side during the conflict.
In a post on X, the PCB said, “The Pakistan Cricket Team has dedicated its Asia Cup final match fees to the innocent victims martyred in the May 7 attack, in which civilians, including children, lost their lives. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.”
India’s actions ‘disrespected cricket’: Salman Agha
Pakistan captain Salman Agha said that India’s actions had “disrespected cricket” while speaking to reporters after the match, AFP reported.
“I think what has happened in this tournament is very disappointing,” Agha said.
“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 that. 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.”
Meanwhile, Yadav claimed that India was “denied” the trophy, but then went on to say that the team “took the call on the ground about not taking the trophy”.
“If you tell me about the trophies, my trophies are sitting in my dressing room —all the 14 players and support staff. They are the real trophies for me,” said Yadav.
The Asia Cup saw the first cricket matches between the two sides since the military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.
Earlier this year, a brief but intense military escalation erupted after India launched air strikes in Pakistan over the Pehalgam attack[6] in occupied Kashmir, which killed more than two dozen people. Pakistan denied involvement, and the crisis eased following US intervention[7]. Since then, relations have become exceedingly sour between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
References
- ^ Operation Sindoor (www.dawn.com)
- ^ conflict (www.dawn.com)
- ^ #OperationSindoor (www.dawn.com)
- ^ success (www.dawn.com)
- ^ refused (www.dawn.com)
- ^ Pehalgam attack (www.dawn.com)
- ^ intervention (www.dawn.com)