Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi on Monday warned India against “dragging war” into sports, saying that doing so only exposed India’s “desperation,” while responding to comments made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who politicised India’s Asia Cup final win against Pakistan.
In a post on X, Modi 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, launched against Pakistan in the four-day military conflict between the two countries.
“#OperationSindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same — India wins! Congrats to our cricketers,” he said.
Responding to his comments, 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.
Earlier, the Indian cricket team refused to collect the winners’ trophy from Naqvi, marking a historic low in the cricketing relations between the two countries.
“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.
Separately, 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 the victims on the Indian side during the conflict.
In a post on X, the PCB 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.”
