Suryakumar Yadav’s men beat Salman Ali Agha-led Pakistan in the final on Sunday to clinch their ninth Asia Cup title across formats.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha announced that he and his teammates have decided to donate their Asia Cup match fees to the “civilians and children” affected during India’s Operation Sindoor. This comes after India skipper Suryakumar Yadav pledged to donate his entire match fee from the tournament to the country’s armed forces and the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. Suryakumar’s men beat Salman Agha-led Pakistan in the final on Sunday to clinch their ninth Asia Cup title across formats.
“As a team, we have decided to donate our match fees to the civilians and children affected by India’s attack,” said Agha during the post-match press conference.
Speaking on India’s repeated refusal to shake hands with them, Salman termed the actions as “disappointing,” accusing Suryakumar and others of disrespecting the sport.
“What India have done this tournament is very disappointing. They’re not disrespecting us by not shaking hands, they’re disrespecting cricket.”
“Good teams don’t do what they did today. We went to pose with the trophy on our own because we wanted to fulfill our obligations. We stood there and took our medals. I don’t want to use harsh words but they’ve been very disrespectful,” he added.
The Indian team, after the final, also refused to receive the trophy from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Interior Minister of Pakistan.
Naqvi then walked away with his entourage, taking away the trophy and the official medals with them. India, however, did not let that dissuade them, posing with an imaginary trophy even as fireworks signalled another loss at ICC tournaments for Pakistan.
