DUBAI: The closing ceremony of the Asia Cup descended into farce on Sunday as the Indian cricket team refused to collect the winners’ trophy from Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi, as politics continued to spill over the pitch.

India had earlier beaten Pakistan by five wickets to win a record-extending ninth Asia Cup title but they caused the post-final formalities to be inordinately delayed due to their refusal to budge from their stance.

There were no handshakes between the teams with tensions high from their previous two clashes in the competition, which witnessed political posturing and aggressive on-field behaviour.

The Asia Cup saw the first cricket clashes between the two sides since the military skirmishes between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s Interior Minister, was supposed to present the winners’ trophy but there were indications that India would resent that when their captain Suryakumar Yadav did not participate in the customary pre-toss photoshoot before the final.

The post-final ceremony saw Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha receive the runners-up trophy while Indian players Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav and Abhishek Sharma collect their respective individual awards.

However, commentator Simon Doull concluded the ceremony stating that he had been by the ACC that India will not be collecting the trophy.

The Press Trust of India news agency stated that someone from the organisers had taken the trophy into the Indian dressing room.

India’s refusal to collect the trophy from Naqvi marks a historic low in the cricketing relations between the neighbours, with the game having acted as a stage for diplomacy in the past.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also made a political reference in his post on X congratulating the Indian team. “Operation Sindoor on the game’s field. Outcome is the same — India wins! Congrats to our cricketers,” he wrote. Suryakumar’s men had earlier capped a remarkable unbeaten run with their third victory against Pakistan at the Asia Cup. Put into bat, Pakistan could not capitalise on an 84-run opening stand between Sahibzada Farhan (57) and Fakhar Zaman (46) and were bundled out for 146 with five deliveries still left in their innings.

Pakistan lost their last nine wickets for 33 runs in a spectacular meltdown with India’s left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav (4-30) being the wrecker-in-chief.

Varma anchored India’s nervy chase with an unbeaten 69 and Shivam Dube (33) provided some support as they overwhelmed the target with two deliveries to spare. “It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Pakistan captain Salman said at the presentation ceremony. “We could not finish well in the batting. Bowling, we gave everything. If we could have finished well, it would have been a different story.

“We could not rotate the strike properly and we lost too many wickets. That was the reason we could not score what we wanted. We have to sort out our batting very soon. They bowled really well, outstandingly well. They needed 63 off six overs, I thought we had the game. The bowlers bowled really well, we have to give them credit, but the batting was a concern.

“We fought really well. We are proud as a team. So much to look forward to, we will improve and come back stronger.”

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2025