Topline
The Indian national men’s cricket team defeated Pakistan in the finals of the Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday, in a clash that is usually the sport’s most highly anticipated and commercially lucrative encounter, which was marred by boycotts and political gesturing as the game took place just months after the two nuclear-armed neighbors engaged in a military skirmish along their border.
The Indian cricket team posed with an imaginary trophy after winning the Asia Cup on Sunday after refusing to take the real trophy from Pakistan’s interior minister and Asian Cricket Council President Mohsin Naqvi.
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Key Facts
India vs Pakistan games—a marquee clash in most cricket tournaments and among the most-watched sporting events in the world—took a sharply political tone during the ongoing Asia Cup, with some Indian political and public figures calling for a boycott in sporting ties.
The Asia Cup was the first cricketing event to feature both teams since the two countries’ militaries clashed in May this year.
Controversy began during a league stage match earlier this month when the Indian team refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts both before and after the game.
The handshake refusal continued in another round robin game last week and in the Finals on Sunday, which India won to complete an undefeated run at the Asia Cup.
Despite winning the title, however, the Indian team did not receive a trophy after they insisted that it be presented to them by someone other than Mohsin Naqvi, the president of the Asian Cricket Council and chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan’s Interior Minister, however, reportedly insisted that only he would do the presentation, which resulted in the Indian team ending the night without the trophy in their hands.
What Did Indian Players Say About The Controversy?
The Indian cricket team’s captain, Suryakumar Yadav, told reporters: “This is one thing which I have never seen since I have started playing cricket, since I have started following cricket that a champion team is denied to get a trophy…That too is a hard-earned one; it’s not like we got it easily. It was a hard-earned tournament.” Yadav also insisted that the teams refusal to accept the prize from Naqvi was taken by the players themselves and they had not been pressured to do so by any government or Indian cricket board officials. Earlier in the tournament, Yadav was fined by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaching its code of conduct by making a political statement during a presentation ceremony. After India beat Pakistan in their league stage game earlier in the tournament, Yadav said, “We stand by the victims of the families of the Pahalgam terror attack. We express our solidarity. Want to dedicate the win to all our armed forces who showed a lot of bravery.”
What Have Pakistan Players Said About The Controversy?
Pakistan’s captain, Salman Ali Agha, accused the Indian team of “disrespecting” the sport. “What India have done this tournament is very disappointing…They’re not disrespecting us by not shaking hands; they’re disrespecting cricket. Good teams don’t do what they did today.” Aside from Yadav, two of Agha’s teammates, Sahibzada Farhan and Haris Rauf, have also been pulled by the ICC for disciplinary breaches, with Rauf being fined 30% of his match fee. Rauf stoked controversy during the previous encounter between the two teams last Sunday, where he made a 6-0 signal with his hand alluding to the Pakistani military’s claim that it downed six Indian jets during the skirmish. Farhad had celebrated his 50-run score in the previous gun by mimicking the firing of a gun with his bat.
What Have The Two Countries’ Leaders Said?
In a post on X, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi cheered the team’s victory in the final, tweeting: “#OperationSindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same – India wins,” referencing the mission codename the Indian military used for its strikes on Pakistan. Naqvi responded to Modi’s comment, tweeting: “If war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan’s hands. No cricket match can rewrite the truth. Dragging war into sports only exposes your desperation and disgraces the very spirit of the game.”
Key Background
Earlier this year, the Indian government blamed Pakistan-based terror groups for carrying out a deadly attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people and responded by launching airstrikes into Pakistan’s territory targeting “terrorist infrastructure.” The military clash and subsequent rising tensions between the two countries raised questions about India’s participation in the Asia Cup. The Indian government later issued a clarification that it would allow Indian sporting teams to play against Pakistan in multinational tournaments like World Cups, Olympics and tournaments like the Asia Cup. However, Indian sporting teams are barred from visiting or hosting Pakistan for bilateral contests. The Indian and Pakistani cricket teams have not played each other in a bilateral series—a standard feature of international cricket—since 2013, instead competing against each other only at multination tournaments. The commercial importance of the clash has prompted the ICC and other tournament organizers to schedule their events in a manner that guarantees at least one league stage game between the two arch-rivals.
Big Number
206 million. That is the estimated viewership in India for the last high-profile clash between the two cricket teams during the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year.