India’s Asia Cup triumph marred by controversy
The Asia Cup 2025 final between India and Pakistan in Dubai may have ended with Suryakumar Yadav’s men lifting the trophy, but the post-match controversies dominated headlines. India refused to accept the trophy and medals from Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who also heads the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Asian Cricket Council, resulting in a delayed and shortened presentation ceremony.
India had earlier defeated Pakistan in the group stage and Super Four, continuing their dominance with an eighth straight win across formats since 2022. The final itself was tense—Pakistan collapsed from 84/0 to 146 all out, before India chased down the target with two balls to spare despite losing three wickets early.
Kapil Dev calls for cricket to stay free from politics
Speaking exclusively to India Today, India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev urged both players and media to keep the spotlight on the sport itself.
“I just want to say — your responsibility, and responsibility for the entire media also we should look into the sports side rather than looking into the politics side. Yes, media has the responsibility to bring everything on the table, but as a sportsman, I would like to see that we should stick to sports. It will be much better,” Kapil Dev said.
Pakistan’s talent pool ‘not what it once was’
Kapil Dev also reflected on the decline of Pakistan cricket compared to its golden eras of the 1980s and 1990s, when the nation produced legends across formats.
“Yeah, I think they don’t have the similar talent they used to have in the ’80s, ’90s or before that. Pakistan has given us, to the world, some of the best cricketers. You can talk about Imran Khan, you can talk about Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis. They have given us that talent. But unfortunately, we can’t see similar talent today — not even one percent of what they used to have,” he added.
In all this chaos and madness a single Sane voice from India@therealkapildev
Respect for Kapil Dev " When You play against Pakistan after Gov permission than Handshake is not a big matter, Pakistan is our neighbor and we must have good relation, Dialogue is the way forward" VC… pic.twitter.com/wBnIO5hTbE— Abdul Ghaffar 🇵🇰 (@GhaffarDawnNews) September 29, 2025
Ongoing controversies in the tournament
The final was not the only flashpoint. The Super Four match saw Haris Rauf fined for a provocative “plane crash” gesture and Sahibzada Farhan warned over a “gunshot” celebration, which he defended as cultural expression. India also drew criticism for avoiding handshakes with Pakistani players during earlier fixtures, while Suryakumar Yadav admitted the decision to reject Naqvi’s presence on stage was taken collectively by the players.
Despite the theatrics, Kapil Dev’s message remains clear: the cricket should do the talking.
