Why did India refuse to accept the Asia Cup trophy after beating Pakistan?

Tensions betwixt India and Pakistan scorched the satellite of sports connected Sunday when the Indian cricket squad refused to judge the Asia Cup trophy aft beating their neighbours by 5 wickets successful the last successful Dubai.

The lucifer was the third contest betwixt the rivals successful the tournament, 4 months aft they fought a abbreviated but aggravated aerial war, triggered by a deadly April 22 attack connected tourists successful Pahalgam successful Indian-administered Kashmir.

Why did India garbage to instrumentality the trophy?

India refused to instrumentality the trophy due to the fact that it was presented by Mohsin Naqvi, who is the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president arsenic good arsenic the president of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Naqvi is besides Pakistan’s national interior minister.

“We person decided not to instrumentality the Asia Cup trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to beryllium 1 of the main [political] leaders of Pakistan,” Devajit Saikia, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket successful India (BCCI), told India’s ANI quality agency.

“That does not mean that the man volition instrumentality distant the trophy with him on with the medals. So it is precise unfortunate and we anticipation that the trophy and the medals volition beryllium returned to India arsenic soon arsenic possible,” Saikia said, referring to a bizarre series of events that played retired aft the decision of the match.

What happened during the India-Pakistan Asia Cup match?

While the crippled ended astatine astir 10:30pm (18:30 GMT), the last grant presumption was delayed until astir midnight (20:00 GMT). Naqvi could beryllium seen successful tv footage, speaking with lucifer officials.

Before the presumption began and aft the signifier was acceptable up, an authoritative removed the Asia Cup champions trophy from the raised dais, without explanation.

Indian players Kuldeep Yadav, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma received their idiosyncratic awards from different dignitaries connected signifier during the presentation. Naqvi was connected signifier erstwhile this happened, but the Indian players did not admit the ACC main and Pakistani minister, who besides did not clap for them.

Pakistani skipper Salman Agha past collected the runners-up cheque from Naqvi.

“I person been informed by the Asian Cricket Council that the Indian cricket squad volition not beryllium collecting their awards tonight,” said Simon Doull, erstwhile cricketer from New Zealand, who conducted the post-match presentation.

Doull past announced the decision of the post-match presumption ceremony.

The Indian squad past celebrated, pretending to clasp a trophy.

While officials person not confirmed the contiguous determination of the trophy, it is usually kept with the tourney organisers until it is handed implicit to the winners – and until precocious connected Sunday, the Indian squad had not received it.

“I deliberation this is 1 happening which I person ne'er seen since I started playing cricket, started pursuing cricket, that a champion squad is denied a trophy, that excessively a hard-earned one,” Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said during a quality league aft the presentation. “I consciousness we deserved it. I can’t accidental thing more, I’ve summed it up truly well.”

Yadav added it was the team’s determination to garbage the trophy and “no 1 told america to bash it.”

What is the context?

India-Pakistan relations person been successful occupation for years. But they plummeted further aft gunmen killed 26 men during an onslaught connected Pahalgam, a tourism tract successful Indian-administered Kashmir, connected April 22.

The Resistance Front (TRF), an equipped radical which demands Kashmir’s independence, claimed work for the attack. India alleges that the TRF is simply a subdivision of Pakistan-based equipped group, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), an allegation Islamabad denies.

Following the attack, the 2 countries scaled backmost diplomatic relations and India suspended its information successful the Indus Waters Treaty.

On May 7, India launched multiple rocket attacks connected sites successful Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir nether what it called Operation Sindoor. India said it struck 9 sites successful Pakistan, which said dozens of civilians were killed.

On May 10, Pakistan launched Operation Bunyan Marsoos, targeting astatine slightest six Indian subject sites and sidesplitting astatine slightest 5 Indians, according to Indian authorities.

On the aforesaid day, the 2 sides reached a ceasefire agreement which was announced by US President Donald Trump.

Have cricketing tensions been gathering up, too?

Yes, Sunday’s eruption of hostilities aft the lucifer was the culmination of weeks of hostility that had clouded the Asia Cup.

In India, galore politicians and influential nationalist figures – including immoderate who are supportive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party authorities – had called connected their nation’s squad to boycott the matches with Pakistan.

Pro-Modi tv channels criticised the BCCI – which successful caller years has been intimately aligned successful its policies with the Indian authorities – for participating successful the Asia Cup alongside Pakistan. The BCCI said it was pursuing the government’s instructions, nether which India refuses to play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan but participates successful multi-nation contests – including successful games against Pakistan successful those events.

Eventually, India didn’t conscionable play successful the Asia Cup, but faced disconnected against Pakistan successful 3 matches.

While India won each 3 games – including the last – its players refused to shingle hands with the Pakistani team, a determination that was criticised by Pakistan.

After the archetypal lucifer connected September 14, Indian skipper Yadav brought up the struggle during his speech, dedicating the triumph to the Indian army. “We basal by the victims of the families of Pahalgam panic attack. We explicit our solidarity. Want to dedicate the triumph to each our equipped forces who showed a batch of bravery,” Yadav said during the post-match presentation.

Meanwhile, Pakistani pacer Haris Rauf responded to heckling by Indian spectators during matches by signaling 6-0 with his hands and gesturing the downing of an aircraft, a notation to Pakistan’s assertion that six Indian aircraft were downed by Pakistan during their May clashes. India has acknowledged that Pakistan changeable down an unspecified fig of Indian jets.

After the 2nd crippled betwixt Pakistan and India connected September 21, Pakistani opener Sahibzada Farhan reached 50 runs. In celebration, helium cradled his bat similar a machinegun and pretended to fire, a motion that was upsetting to galore Indian fans. In the Pahalgam attack, gunmen asked tourists if they were Muslim, and past changeable non-Muslims.

On Sunday, Farhan reached 50 runs again, but this time, celebrated his milestone silently.

India has besides questioned Naqvi’s behaviour during the tournament. Though helium is expected to beryllium neutral arsenic ACC chief, helium is besides PCB boss. When the Indian squad refused to shingle hands aft the archetypal match, helium posted connected X: “Utterly disappointing to witnesser the deficiency of sportsmanship today. Dragging authorities into the crippled goes against the precise tone of sports. Lets anticipation aboriginal victories are celebrated by each teams with grace.”

In different station connected September 15, Naqvi wrote: “There is thing much important to maine than the grant and prestige of my country,” adding the Pakistani emblem emoji astatine the end.

What person Indian, Pakistani leaders said astir the Asia Cup tensions?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote successful an X station connected Sunday aft the game: “#OperationSindoor connected the games field. Outcome is the aforesaid – India wins! Congrats to our cricketers.”

Quoting Modi’s post, Naqvi replied: “If warfare was your measurement of pride, past already records your humiliating defeats astatine Pakistan’s hands. No cricket lucifer tin rewrite that truth. Dragging warfare into athletics lone exposes desperation and disgraces the precise tone of the game.”

It wasn’t ever this way.

Hasn’t cricket been a span betwixt India and Pakistan?

Indeed, contempt tensions, leaders from Pakistan and India person successful decades past besides utilized cricket arsenic a diplomatic instrumentality to easiness tensions, physique a nationalist situation favourable for talks, and make a mounting for governmental interaction.

The thought of “cricket diplomacy” was popularised by Pakistan’s President Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, who governed the state from 1978 to 1988.

In February 1987, Zia-ul-Haq visited India to ticker a trial lucifer portion tensions implicit Kashmir were astatine a precocious aft India had amassed troops on their disputed border.

Twelve years later, successful aboriginal 1999, India hosted the Pakistan cricket squad for their archetypal bilateral trial bid successful a decennary – conscionable 8 months aft the neighbours had some tested atomic weapons, starring to soaring tensions. After Pakistan won a tense, intimately fought lucifer successful Chennai successful January, its players took a thigh astir the stadium to a lasting ovation from Indian fans, underscoring however cricketers excessively understood their nationalist diplomacy role.

Between 2003 and 2008, cricket diplomacy reached its peak, with India and Pakistan each hosting the different for 2 trial series. In April 2005, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf went to India to be talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The 2 leaders attended a cricket lucifer betwixt their teams.

In March 2011, Singh invited Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to ticker the World Cup semifinal betwixt India and Pakistan with him. Gilani accepted the invitation and visited India.

Was India’s refusal surprising?

In galore ways, the events of Sunday were predictable, accidental experts. The organisers had announced that Naqvi, arsenic ACC chief, would beryllium handing implicit the winner’s trophy.

India’s absorption excessively wasn’t surprising, analysts say.

“It is often said that planetary authorities and sports should stay separate, but successful reality, this is easier said than done,” said Mathew John Moolakkattu, a researcher whose doctoral enactment astatine Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University successful Coimbatore, India, explored cricket diplomacy.

“Given the ongoing tensions betwixt India and Pakistan, it was possibly inevitable that these strains would aboveground successful arenas that link some nations, specified arsenic cricket.”

Moolakkattu pointed retired however Indian squad skipper Yadav had besides announced that helium would donate his full lucifer fees to the Indian Army.

“The Indian squad made it wide that portion they were arrogant to judge the trophy, they would not bash truthful from Naqvi owed to the underlying tensions and unresolved issues betwixt the 2 countries,” helium said.

India’s stance reflects a broader intent to region itself from Pakistan connected each fronts, beryllium it trade, politics, borders, oregon sports. Until the Indian authorities believes that Pakistan has taken definitive steps to extremity its alleged enactment for planetary “terrorism”, specified diplomatic and symbolic gestures volition apt persist, said Moolakkattu. Pakistan rejects India’s allegations of enactment for cross-border “terrorism”.

Still, Moolakkattu said, the mode the Asia Cup ended “undermines immoderate affirmative diplomatic outcomes that mightiness person emerged from the tournament”.