‘Politics should stay aside’: AB de Villiers reacts to Asia Cup incidents between India and Pakistan

Cricket legend AB de Villiers has weighed in on the scenes witnessed after the Asia Cup final in Dubai, where the Indian team was made to wait over an hour to get their winners’ trophy after it refused to accept it from Asian Cricket Council Chief Mohsin Naqvi, who had shared posts on social media that irked the Indian contingent. The Indian team eventually celebrated their win with pyrotechnics in the background but no trophy in hand. In fact, three days after the Asia Cup final ended, the Indian team is yet to receive the winners’ trophy and the medals for players.

The whole Asia Cup tournament saw plenty of rancour between the India and Pakistan teams, since it was the first time the team arch-rivals were meeting on the cricket field after the heinous Pahalgam terror attacks where 26 Indians lost their lives. The Indians, led by captain Suryakumar Yadav, refused to shake hands with the Pakistan players in any of their three games. Pakistan players sledged and abused the Indian batters in the Super 4 clash. Players like Haris Rauf had also made gestures about aircrafts falling, a reference to Pakistan’s claim that it had shot down India’s fighter planes during Operation Sindoor. Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh had responded to these gestures by similar gestures. But things had taken a turn for the worse after the Asia Cup final when the Indians objected to taking the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, the Asian cricket chief, who is also an Interior Minister in the Pakistan government besides being the Pakistan cricket chief.

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