"Proud of how we stood tall last night": Kuldeep Yadav after Asia Cup 2025 final clash against Pakistan

Dubai [UAE], September 29 (ANI): Following India's Asia Cup 2025 triumph, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav shared his feelings after being part of a thrilling final. He stated that finals are meant to test a player, and he was really "proud" of the way Men in Blue played last night against Pakistan.

India's ball-tweaking troika, Axar Patel (2-26), Varun Chakravarthy (2-30) and Kuldeep Yadav (4-30), wreaked havoc on Dubai's slow-paced strip against Pakistan in the final and combined to scalp eight wickets to wrap up the Men in Green's innings on 146. India eventually gunned down the target, courtesy of Tilak Varma's unbeaten 69 and contributions from Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube to revel in a five-wicket win.

Varun set the tone by breaking the 84-run opening stand by dismissing the threatening Sahibzada Farhan on 57(38). Axar Patel capitalised in the middle while Kuldeep broke Pakistan's backbone by tearing through their power-hitters. Kuldeep revealed that before the final, Hari highlighted the lengths at which they could cash in against the Pakistan batters.

On three consecutive weekends, India trounced Pakistan as many times and walked away with the title with a five-wicket win in the Asia Cup final in Dubai on Sunday.

Speaking on India's win, Kuldeep Yadav took to X and wrote, "Finals are meant to test you, proud of how we stood tall last night."

Kuldeep's prowess reflected in India's unbeaten run in the tournament, finishing as the highest wicket-taker with 17 scalps to his name at 9.29, while Varun scythed seven at an average of 20.42.

Kuldeep Yadav, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma received their individual awards from other dignitaries on stage, while Salman accepted the runners-up cheque from PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. The Indian players did not acknowledge Naqvi. The ACC chairman didn't applaud the Indian players who came up to receive their personal accolades.

Simon Doull, the presenter for the host broadcaster towards the end of the ceremony, confirmed that, "I have been informed by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight. So that does conclude the post-match presentation."

Eventually, the speculations cleared up after it was confirmed by the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia. He disclosed that India had refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy during the presentation ceremony from ACC Chairman Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan's interior minister.

"We have decided not to take the Asia Cup 2025 trophy from the ACC chairman, who happens to be one of the main leaders of Pakistan. So we decided not to take it from him. But that does not mean that the gentleman will take away the trophy with him, along with the medals. So it is very unfortunate and unsportsmanlike, and we hope that the trophy and the medals will be returned to India as soon as possible," Saikia told ANI. (ANI)

(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)