Politics continue to spill over cricket pitch

DUBAI, Sept 29 (Reuters): The closing ceremony of the men's Asia Cup descended into farce on Sunday as the Indian cricket team refused to collect the winners' trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi, as politics continued to spill over the pitch.

India had earlier beaten Pakistan by five wickets in the last over after a close contest 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 customary handshakes between the teams after India refused, 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 matches between the two sides since the military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Naqvi, who is also the 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.

"I have been informed by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight," Simon Doull, who conducted the post-match presentation, said.

When asked about his refusal to collect the trophy at the post-match press conference and their actions leading to the politicisation of the game, the Indian skipper declined to answer the question.

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.

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.

The Green Shirts struck back to leave India reeling at 20-3 with their top 3, including captain Suryakumar Yadav, back in the dugout.

India lost their in-form opener Abhishek Sharma, also the tournament's leading scorer, and the skipper inside the first 10 deliveries of their innings.