The most common grouse against cricket levelled by those who are not besotted by its nuances and vagaries is the amount of time the sport takes up. Even its shortest variant lasts between three and a half to four hours. The chaos that roiled after the Asia Cup final between India and Pakistan in Dubai didn’t help its case.
After much uncertainty and confusion, the victorious Indian team celebrated with an imaginary trophy in front of a handful of fans. Almost 90 minutes had elapsed between the last ball of the tournament and the Men in Blue’s strut onto the podium. An entire football match could have been wedged in between. By the end of it all, even the journalists, who latch onto the slightest whiff of a sensational headline, were irritable. Their frustration spilled over into the post-match press conferences, which extended well beyond midnight.
An ill-tempered Pakistani journalist questioned skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s ‘poor behaviour’ throughout the tournament. At the same time, his Indian counterpart grilled Salman Agha about his views on the deserving champion being denied the trophy. The thread of solidarity that had bound the scribes over three weeks was frayed. One wondered whether things would ever be the same.
On either side of a pulsating finale, both captains had signalled the onset of unprecedented times.
“I have been playing cricket since 2007, when I played at the Under-16 level. I have never seen two teams not shaking hands,” Agha had lamented about the Indian team’s decision not to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts ahead of the final.
“This is one thing which I have never seen since I started playing and following cricket. That a champion team is denied a trophy, and a hard-earned one at that,” Suryakumar quipped after his team refused to receive the silverware from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan’s Interior Minister and chairman of the country’s cricket board.
Pandemonium: Officials quietly cleared the podium as the winner’s trophy was whisked away after India’s triumph over Pakistan in the Asia Cup final, leaving the champion to celebrate an invisible prize amid confusion and delay.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Pandemonium: Officials quietly cleared the podium as the winner’s trophy was whisked away after India’s triumph over Pakistan in the Asia Cup final, leaving the champion to celebrate an invisible prize amid confusion and delay.
| Photo Credit:
AP
The myth of cricket diplomacy had sunk deeper into the quicksand of conflicts of interest and the competing claims of politics and sport. The on-field visuals after the final were equally jarring. The victorious Indians were made to wait and eventually denied what was rightfully theirs. The Pakistani players were locked up inside their dressing room for almost an hour and were greeted with raucous boos when they eventually trudged onto the field to grudgingly accept their runner-up medals. A vain Naqvi and other dignitaries cluelessly stood on the dais for half an hour. In between, the trophy was promptly whisked off the field. The scenes were so unedifying that the broadcaster, who had paid millions to grab the eyeballs of a billion viewers, thought it better to keep the camera singularly focused on a portion of an empty stand.
It is at times such as these when one questions the tangibility of sporting success. Was India any less of a champion side because it was prevented from laying hands on the trophy? Surely not. Suryakumar had referred to all 14 squad members and support staff as trophies. Had Pakistan found solace in not seeing its nemesis lift the prize? Agha’s dejection indicated it hadn’t. But was cricket the casualty in the ensuing melee between the neighbours? Perhaps, yes.
Waiting game: Pakistan’s players lingered in uneasy silence as confusion stalled the post-match proceedings after the Asia Cup final in Dubai, waiting nearly an hour for a presentation that never truly arrived.
| Photo Credit:
AFP
Waiting game: Pakistan’s players lingered in uneasy silence as confusion stalled the post-match proceedings after the Asia Cup final in Dubai, waiting nearly an hour for a presentation that never truly arrived.
| Photo Credit:
AFP
The events that transpired, or those that didn’t, after the summit clash were, in some ways, a microcosm of the protracted hostilities between the countries. Inconclusive deliberations, an abrupt provocation, a measured retaliation, and a period of uneasy calm, with no end in sight.
The fate of the continental tournament, which feeds off the rivalry between the countries, was in a similar limbo. The status quo wasn’t favourable to another India versus Pakistan skirmish on the cricket field. Scribes of a certain vintage from both countries recognised this reality as they reminisced about their tours across the border. Their anecdotes were invariably punctuated by a sigh, “But things were different then.” The younger crop leant in closely to lend a keen ear to whispers of a bygone era that may never return.
The dust was yet to settle, and the case of the missing trophy was still unresolved. But as that night’s manic events wound to a close, a temporary truce was struck as a Pakistani taxi driver’s earnest proclamation rent the air: “You know, most of my friends are Indians.”
It had been an unusually long day, even by the standards of cricket, and this reporter could only offer an uncertain smile of acknowledgement. He would never know.
Published on Oct 06, 2025