Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha accused India of 'disrespecting cricket' after the Asia Cup came to a sour end on Sunday (September 28).
India win Asia Cup, but celebrate without trophy
In the men's Asia Cup's first India-Pakistan final, it was India who emerged victorious, chasing down 147 thanks to Tilak Varma's unbeaten half-century, and an incredible collapse of 9-33 in Pakistan's innings.
Final, India vs Pakistan
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Perhaps fittingly, the post-match presentation ceremony carried on in the frigid way the entire tournament had panned out between the sides. It was delayed by over an hour, as reports emerged that India refused to receive their trophy and medals from Asian Cricket Council president and Pakistan Cricket Board chair Mohsin Naqvi. Naqvi is also an interior minister in the Pakistan government, with whom the Indian government share a tense relationship following military action between the countries this May.
The ceremony finally got underway as news filtered down that India would instead receive the trophy from Emirates Cricket Board vice-chair Khalid Al Zarooni. Pakistan received the runners-up medals and cheques with Naqvi handing them over, and India players Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav and Tilak Varma collected individual match and tournament awards from dignitaries other than Naqvi.
However, the ceremony came to an abrupt end as announcer Simon Doull said, “I've been informed by the ACC that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight.”
A short while later, the Indian team and support staff got together on the podium and celebrated as fireworks went off, but with no trophy in sight. Multiple versions of the events were later relayed, but all had the same basic line, that Naqvi had left the stage along with the trophy.
Agha: What India did today is not what a good team does
“What has happened in this tournament is quite disappointing,” Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said at the post-match press conference.“They [India] seem to think that by doing all these things, refusing handshakes, they are disrespecting us. No sir, they are disrespecting cricket.
“And for those who disrespect cricket, I feel it comes back to bite them, somewhere, somehow. And even today, what they did, if you ask me, it’s not what a good team does. Because good teams act the way we did. We went and did the trophy photoshoot [pre-match] alone, and we also stood there and collected our medals.
“Whatever they are doing with the game, it’s beyond just… I don’t know, I don’t want to use very harsh words, but to be honest this is very disrespectful to the game, not to anyone. If they are thinking they are doing disrespect to us, that’s, like, they are wrong there.
“They are disrespecting the game, which, I’m sure, no one is going to second that.”
Ahead of the toss for the first match between these teams at the tournament, Agha and Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands, and the Indian team followed suit at the end of that game.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
