Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Chief Mohsin Naqvi has strongly criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "dragging war into sport", saying that such remarks undermine the spirit of the game, according to Pakistan TV Geo television.
Hitting back at Modi, Naqvi, who is also the country's interior minister, said history has already recorded India's humiliating defeats at Pakistan's hands in the battlefield and cautioned that politicising sport with conflict reflected desperation rather than pride.
"If war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan's hands. No cricket match can rewrite that truth. Dragging war into sport only exposes desperation and disgraces the very spirit of the game," Naqvi said in a post on X.
The statement came in response to Modi's tweet after India's win over Pakistan in Sunday's Asia Cup 2025 final, where the Indian premier had equated the cricket victory to "Operation Sindoor" to congratulate his players, only to invite widespread condemnation that the remark militarises a sporting event. Taking a jibe at the Indian leader, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also joined the criticism, saying that Modi was destroying the culture and spirit of cricket for political gain, thereby diminishing chances of peace and conflict resolution in the subcontinent.
"Modi is ending the possibilities of peace and solutions to issues in the subcontinent to save his politics by destroying the culture and spirit of cricket. Honour cannot be regained this way. The score of the Pak-India war, 6-0, has been engraved on stone. We are not saying anything but Modi has been humiliated in India and as well as in the entire world," Asif wrote on X.
Modi faced criticism for his tweet not only by Pakistani leaders, but also by the people in his own country. Social media users and commentators, even from Indian, quickly condemned the comparison. Critics say equating a cricket match with a military operation risks politicising sport and undermining the game's spirit.
Reacting to the move, a journalist wrote on X: "A prime minister declaring Cricket Match equal to war. Just because India lost the war to Pakistan, they need anything just anything to compensate for that loss."
"Equating a cricket win with #OperationSindoor, where our soldiers laid down their lives, is deeply disrespectful," wrote another user on X while taking a dig at Modi.
Asia Cup trophy debacle
Earlier, the closing ceremony of the ACC Men's T20 Asia Cup 2025 ended in controversy on Sunday after the Indian cricket team declined to collect the winners' trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi, who also heads the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
India had earlier defeated Pakistan by five wickets in a tense final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium,
However, the post-match presentation was delayed after the Indian side refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi, damaging the gentleman's game.
