Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi on Monday warned India against “dragging war” into sports, saying that doing so only exposed the neighbouring country’s “desperation” in a response aimed at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who politicised India’s Asia Cup final win against Pakistan.
In a post on X on Sunday night, Modi had 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 — an operation that was launched against Pakistan during the four-day military conflict between the two countries in May.
“#OperationSindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same — India wins! Congrats to our cricketers,” he said.
In response to Modi’s post, 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 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.
The exchange also follows the Indian cricket team refusing to collect the winners’ trophy from Naqvi, marking a historic low in cricketing relations between the two countries.
“I have been informed by the ACC that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight,” Simon Doull, who conducted the post-match presentation, said on Sunday night.
PCB donates match fee to May 7 victims
Separately, the Pakistan Cricket Board (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 victims on the Indian side.
In a post on X, the the cricketing board 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
Meanwhile, Pakistan captain Salman Agha said that India’s actions had “disrespected cricket” while speaking to reporters after the match, accroding to AFP.
“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,” he said.
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.
‘Lack of sportsmanship’
Although the Pakistan-India matches went ahead despite calls from the Indian side to boycott them, all three were marred by controversy and high tensions between the two countries in the wake of their four-day military standoff in May.
India displayed consistent hostility towards the Pakistan team throughout each of their clashes, including refusing to shake hands with the players at the end of the games.
In addition, after the first victory against Pakistan on September 14, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav was accused of politicising the win by dedicating it to the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack in May, for which India blamed Islamabad without evidence.
Naqvi had expressed disappointment over the “lack of sportsmanship” in a post on X and lodged a complaint with the ICC, which launched a probe into the remarks.
Further, during the September 21 match, when the rivals met for the second time, Pacer Haris Rauf and opener Sahibzada Farhan were reprimanded by the ICC for gestures made during the match.
The Asia Cup saw the first cricket matches between the two sides since the military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Earlier this year, a brief but intense military escalation erupted after India launched air strikes in Pakistan over the Pahalgam attack in occupied Kashmir, which killed more than two dozen people. Pakistan denied involvement, and the crisis eased following US intervention. Since then, relations have become exceedingly sour between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
