PM Modi’s Operation Sindoor post sparks political storm
India’s Asia Cup 2025 triumph over Pakistan, a five-wicket win in Dubai, was soon overshadowed by political controversy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X (formerly Twitter) to hail the victory, drawing a parallel between the cricket win and India’s recent military action.
“#OperationSindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same – India wins! Congrats to our cricketers,” PM Modi posted.
#OperationSindoor on the games field.
Outcome is the same – India wins!
Congrats to our cricketers.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 28, 2025
While the post went viral, garnering more than 25 million impressions and over 100,000 retweets, it also ignited fierce criticism from Congress leaders, who accused the Prime Minister of inappropriately likening a cricket match to a battlefield.
Supriya Shrinate calls cricketers “money-grabbing” and blasts celebrations
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate led the charge in a strongly worded video message on X. “PM Narendra Modi has crossed the limits… by comparing soldiers, who sacrifice their lives on the border, with money-grabbing cricketers,” she said.
Shrinate expressed disbelief over the post, saying, “I could not believe my eyes when I saw his social media message. Initially, I wondered if it was his verified account or a troll account from which the message was posted.”
She also lashed out at those celebrating India’s victory, branding them as unpatriotic. “The one who watched the cricket match. The one who celebrated the victory. The one who danced with joy. Doesn’t that person love this country? Didn’t they think of the daughters whose husbands were lost?” she asked.
“If they indeed were patriots, then they would have opposed playing cricket with a terrorist nation like Pakistan,” she added.
Shrinate accused Modi of hypocrisy, pointing to his earlier stance on the Indus Waters Treaty after the Pahalgam attack. Recalling Modi’s remark, “Blood and water can’t flow at the same time,” she argued that the Prime Minister had allowed “Blood and cricket to flow at the same time.”
She further alleged that playing Pakistan financially benefits the Pakistan Cricket Board, warning: “This money is going to be used by Pakistan to build houses for terrorists who, in turn, will attack our country.”
जिसने क्रिकेट मैच देखा
जिसने जीत का जश्न मनाया
जो ख़ुशी से झूमा
वो इस देश से प्यार नहीं करता
जिन बेटियों के सुहाग उजड़ गए – उनका ख़याल नहीं आया?
नरेंद्र मोदी ने तो सरहद पर अपनी जान कुर्बान करने वाले सैनिकों की तुलना पैसा पीटने वाले क्रिकेटर्स से करके बेशर्मी की हद कर दी pic.twitter.com/q74XEk95IW
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) September 29, 2025
Pawan Khera, Atul Londhe Patil and Harshvardhan Sakpal add to criticism
Other Congress voices amplified the criticism. Pawan Khera, in a post on X, said, “Prime Minister, firstly, comparing a cricket match to a battlefield is not appropriate.” He added a sharp jibe, “Secondly, if you must make such a comparison, you need to learn from the Indian team that when you’re close to victory, good captains don’t call for a ceasefire just because a third umpire says so.”
प्रधानमंत्री जी, पहली बात तो एक क्रिकेट मैच की तुलना युद्ध के मैदान से करना ठीक नहीं है।
दूसरी बात, अगर आपने तुलना कर ही दी तो आपको भारतीय टीम से यह सीखने की ज़रूरत है कि जब जीत के करीब हों, तो किसी थर्ड अंपायर के कहने पर अच्छे कप्तान सीज़फायर नहीं करते। pic.twitter.com/JpHV0xsMHF
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) September 29, 2025
Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe Patil also questioned Modi’s judgment. “Sometimes I doubt if PM Modi has any knowledge of foreign policy and diplomacy. If we played, we should have played with sportsman spirit,” he told PTI.
Patil continued, “If Operation Sindoor is ongoing, then we shouldn’t have played. And if discussions are ongoing to normalise the situation, then sports can be a medium to improve it, but linking everything with Operation Sindoor is not right.”
Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sakpal echoed this sentiment. “It is clear from his tweet that, be it air, water, or sports, he brings politics into everything to polarise. We take pride in India’s victory, but we haven’t won the Asia Cup for the first time. There is a certain dignity of a country which he doesn’t maintain, and I regret this,” he told PTI.
Priyanka Chaturvedi questions decision to play Pakistan
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also joined the chorus of criticism, questioning why the match had even been played. “In the first place, this match should not have happened. The cricket match that BCCI played for the benefit of PCB… the match that took place for the revenue of the broadcasters. The 140 crore people of the country did not want this match to happen,” she told ANI.
BJP hits back at Congress
The BJP was quick to counter Congress’s attacks, accusing the opposition of ignoring India’s sporting success. BJP leader Amit Malviya posted on X, “It seems India’s stunning win against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final has left Rahul Gandhi and the entire Congress in a comatose state. Just like after #OperationSindoor, when they couldn’t bring themselves to congratulate the Indian Army for its stupendous strikes, they now appear to be waiting for permission from Mohsin Naqvi and their other handlers in Pakistan before joining the nation in celebrating the Indian cricket team’s success.”
He further added, “Put that aside – not even a single social media post from Congress congratulating our national team for thrashing Pakistan thrice in the tournament and bringing the Asia Cup home. Once again, Pakistan, Rahul Gandhi, and Congress find themselves on the same side of the divide.”
It seems India’s stunning win against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final has left Rahul Gandhi and the entire Congress in a comatose state. Just like after #OperationSindoor, when they couldn’t bring themselves to congratulate the Indian Army for its stupendous strikes, they now…
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) September 29, 2025
Suryakumar Yadav praises PM Modi’s message
Amid the political clash, Team India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav responded warmly to the Prime Minister’s support. He said the message made the players feel like their leader was playing alongside them. “It felt like he took the strike and scored runs. It was great to see, and when the sir is standing in front, then definitely the players will play freely,” he told media
He also described Modi’s leadership style as one that “bats on the front foot,” suggesting it gave the team greater confidence.
A controversy that extends beyond cricket
The Asia Cup victory was meant to be a moment of celebration, but the fallout from Modi’s Operation Sindoor post has once again highlighted the uneasy overlap between politics and sport in India. For Congress, the Prime Minister’s words symbolised inappropriate militarisation of cricket; for the BJP, Congress’s silence on the win was unpatriotic.
With the debate still raging online and in political circles, India’s latest triumph over Pakistan is destined to be remembered as much for the war of words it triggered as for the victory itself.
