Pakistan’s captain Salman Agha has stated that India’s refusal to accept the Asia Cup trophy and not greeting Pakistan before matches is an insult to cricket. The captain of the runner-up team made these comments after India, who won the championship in the Asia Cup final that concluded last night, refused to accept the trophy. India said they did not want to receive the trophy from the hands of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president because he is a Pakistani. “The tournament trophy is supposed to be presented by the ACC president. If they don’t want the trophy from him, how will they receive it? This is an insult to cricket. This sends a wrong message to children and cricket fans. This is disrespect. Even when we lost, we went and received our medals,” said the Pakistan captain.
India and Pakistan met three times in this tournament. In all these matches, India did not formally greet the Pakistani players before the start of the game. Regarding this, Agha said it was not a decision made by the Indian players. “There’s no issue between me and the Indian captain. He greeted me before the tournament started. We met and he greeted me before the referees’ meeting. But they don’t greet in front of the cameras because that’s what they’ve been instructed to do. I won’t say anything bad. But it’s not because of any issues between the players,” Agha said.
The current president of the ACC is Mohsin Naqvi, who is from Pakistan. He is both the cricket president of Pakistan and the country’s Interior Minister. India said they didn’t accept the trophy from his hands because he is a Pakistani minister. They also stated that they would protest against him at the International Cricket Council meeting to be held this November. When India decided not to accept the trophy at this ceremony, the event concluded by presenting silver medals to the runner-up team.
India and Pakistan are political rivals. Especially after the 2012 terrorist attack on India’s Taj Hotel, relations between the two countries have deteriorated. As a result, Indian players have been banned from going to Pakistan. This is why India played their matches in Dubai during the T20 tournament held in Pakistan last year.
Pakistani players can only enter India for major tournaments through the ICC under strict regulations.
