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Pakistan captain follows Suryakumar Yadav's footsteps, donates match fee to 'Operation Sindoor victims'
Asia Cup final was marked by high drama after India refused to take winning trophy from ACC chief Mohsin Naqvi after beating Pakistan.
Pakistan cricket team captain Salman Ali Agha has announced that the team will donate its match fees to the “civilians and children” affected during India’s Operation Sindoor.
“As a team, we have decided to donate our match fees to the civilians and children affected by India’s attack,” Agha said at the post-match press conference after the team lost to India in the final.
Earlier, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav had announced that he would donate his entire match fee from the Asia Cup to the country’s armed forces and the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. Twenty-six people were killed in the attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in April. In retaliation, India launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan a fortnight later, targeting terror camps across the border.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's skipper also took a jibe at the Indian cricket team after they refused to take trophy from Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the head of Asian Cricket Council. Agha termed India's action “disappointing” and said, “They are not disrespecting us by not shaking hands, they are disrespecting cricket. Good teams don't do what they did.”
He said that the Pakistan team fulfilled the obligation of the game and went to pose for photos with the trophy. “We went to pose with the trophy (photo shoot) on our own because we wanted to fulfil our obligations. We stood there and took our medals. I don't want to use harsh words but they've been very disrespectful,” he said.
As India and Pakistan faced each other in the Asia Cup finals in Dubai on Sunday, the event concluded on a rather bitter note as India reportedly refused to take trophy from Pakistan's Naqvi, who later walked away with the trophy to his hotel.
The presentation ceremony started after a delay of over one hour.
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."
While India's Kuldeep Yadav, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma received their individual awards from other dignitaries on stage, Agha 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.
The BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia later 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.
