"Real trophy is when you win hearts of people": Suryakumar Yadav on not accepting trophy from Mohsin Naqvi

By Vipul Kashyap

Dubai [UAE], September 29 (ANI): India's T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav expreesed his thoughts as the 'Men in Blue' refused to take the Asia Cup 2025 trophy from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, saying that winning the hearts and trust of the cricket fans is a real trophy.

Kuldeep Yadav, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma received their individual awards from other dignitaries on stage, while Salman accepted the runners-up cheque from Naqvi. The Indian players did not acknowledge him. 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.

India refused to accept the Asia Cup 2025 trophy from ACC chairman Mohsin Naqvi, on which Suryakumar Yadav said to ANI, "I won't call it controversy. If you have seen, people have posted photos of trophies here and there. But the real trophy is when you win the hearts of people, the players, the trust you earn, the support staff, the trust they have shown, the people who work behind the scenes; that is the real trophy. The real trophy is the work and effort of so many people on the field."

A well-compiled half-century by Tilak Varma and his useful partnerships with Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube helped Team India secure their second T20I Asia Cup title and overall ninth title, including the ODI editions, beating Pakistan by five wickets in a nail-biting final at Dubai on Sunday.

Suryakumar-led Team India continues its rampaging run in T20Is, having won 18 T20Is and lost just two and tied two ever since Suryakumar first wore the captaincy armband.

Further speaking on India's Asia Cup title win, the right-hand batter said, "It was a very good feeling. When you win a tournament unbeaten, you feel very good. It was a very good feeling for the entire team, for the entire country, and it was a lot of fun. We came and sat together last night, and we had a lot of fun..."

After the match, Suryakumar Yadav announced that he would donate his match fees from all the T20 Asia Cup games to the Indian army, following India's five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Asia Cup Final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

On donating his entire match fee from the Asia Cup to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and the Indian Armed Forces, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav says, "When I was going to the press conference, I thought that so many Indians are there and we could at least do some small help. If everyone contributes a little, it will be good. I couldn't complete the full line at that time, as this is for the armed forces and the victims of Pahalgam. Everything was happening so fast that I couldn't say much in that chaos. But I will do whatever I can." (ANI)

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