Gargi Raut in Dubai
There are only a few moments in a sports journalist’s life that are etched in memory. Like watching the India team practice at the Sydney Cricket Ground before Rohit Sharma dropped himself from the playing XI in the last Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy or watching a young Indian team breach fortress Edgbaston before going on to at The Oval to level the series 2-2. But this Asia Cup had more to it than just on-field theatre. As Rinku Singh hit the winning runs, one thing was certain – the drama had just started.
The day began with the news of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) lodging a complaint against Arshdeep Singh for a gesture that he made in the second India-Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup. The news of the complaint came only hours before the final. The timing? Questionable. Was it another one of the PCB’s ploys to distract the Indian team? Mohsin Naqvi, PCB chief who also happens to be Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President, had reportedly told the Pakistani players: “Do whatever you want, I will handle it.” To say that some drama was expected would be an understatement.
For Pakistan, the defeat was more than just a sporting failure. After all the gestures, appeals, complaints, and more, they failed to save face with their performance. Naqvi was to hand the trophy to the champions, but the Indian team refused to accept it from him, which then caused a 45-minute delay in the post-match ceremony. The BCCI are set to lodge a protest over the same. But as fans waited to catch a glimpse of the skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, with the trophy, the moment never came.
The ACC boss had left with the trophy, and the presentation went on without a trophy or any medals being handed out to India. This elicited many meme-worthy moments as Surya pretended to hold a trophy during the celebration. Many Indian players posted pictures of themselves pretending to hold a trophy, editing trophy emojis over them.
Having covered cricket and multiple other sports for the past few years, I have never seen a trophy not making its way to the champions. From plane gestures to gun celebrations, from the ACC president tweeting provocative videos to then leaving with trophy – the tournament became more than just a spectacle of sport. It became the perfect example of why sports and politics can never be separated. India’s Prime Minister too tweeted: “#OperationSindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same – India wins. Congrats to our cricketers.”
In the end, this Asia Cup will be remembered less for the runs scored or wickets taken, and more for the theatre that unfolded beyond the boundary. India may have walked away without a trophy in hand, but in the only contest that truly mattered, they left no doubt as to who had the upper hand.
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