INDIA players bizarrely celebrated with an invisible trophy after beating Pakistan to win the Asia Cup amid tension between the two countries.
Suryakumar Yadav’s team won by five wickets in Dubai after a third meeting between the two teams at the tournament.
AFPIndia celebrated their Asia Cup win over Pakistan by lifting an invisible trophy[/caption]
AFPIndia’s captain Suryakumar Yadav carried the invisible cup towards his team-mates[/caption]
AFPThen they celebrated with it in bizarre scenes and even had a photoshoot[/caption]
APIndia players had refused to interact with Pakistani Cricket Board chair Mohsin Naqvi (third left)[/caption]
It meant that India won a ninth title but their celebrations were overshadowed by political matters as they refused to collect the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, who heads up the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Instead, the players pretended to lift an invisible trophy rather than interacting with Naqvi.
India and Pakistan have long endured a strained relationship following decades of conflict.
Part of the tension has included territorial disagreements over the Jammu and Kasmir region near the border.
In 2008, a terror attack in Mumbai saw 166 people killed, with India blaming Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the atrocity.
And in April, relations between the countries worsened futher after 26 people were killed by militants in the town of Pahalgam, found in the disputed Kashmir region.
Indian police claimed that two of the attackers were Pakistani nationals, with foreign secretary Vikram Misri accusing Lashkar-e-Taiba of carrying out the attacks.
Pakistan have denied any involvement, but India have retaliated with a series of strikes as part of ‘Operation Sindoor’.
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And that political tension has translated to the cricket field after India and Pakistan players refused to shake hands in all three of their encounters.
Captain Yadav said the players took the decision not to collect the trophy after instructions from the board not to embrace their Pakistani rivals.
He said: “It’s one thing that I have never seen in my career, that a champion team is denied its trophy.
“We took the call on the ground about not taking the trophy.”
Naqvi has claimed that the India team must visit his ACC office if they want to get their hands on the trophy.
He wrote on X: “As ACC President, I was ready to hand over the trophy that very day and I am still ready now. If they truly want it, they are welcome to come to the ACC office and collect it from me.”
But Devajit Saikia, secretary to India’s board, said both the trophies and medals should be delivered to India “as soon as possible”.
He said: “We have decided not to take the Asia Cup trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main leaders of Pakistan.
“But that does not mean that the gentleman will take away the trophy with him along with the medals.
“So it is very unfortunate and we hope that the trophy and the medals will be returned to India as soon as possible.”
APIndia demanded that the trophy be sent to them “as soon as possible”[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
