Trophy Denied, History Made – India’s Most Iconic Asia Cup Victory Yet
Image :- Digital
India wins Asia Cup without taking the trophy! A historic victory full of drama, swag, and unmatched team spirit.
For the first time in cricket history, a team has celebrated a championship victory without receiving a trophy or medals. Surprising, yet true. Yesterday, after winning the Asia Cup final match, Team India refused to accept the trophy and medals following their 5-wicket victory over Pakistan.
India Wins Asia Cup Without Taking the Trophy – Here's Why
The main reason behind this was that the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Mr. Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the current President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) is involved. Due to Pakistan’s ongoing involvement in the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam and because Mohsin Naqvi also serves as Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Team India refused to accept the trophy from his hands.
All the Indian players and supporting staff still celebrated their championship win joyfully without the trophy, and even posed for photographs in front of the media.
India Clinches 9th Asia Cup Title with Dominant Win Over Pakistan
In the final match held yesterday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Team India defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets and clinched their 9th Asia Cup title. After winning the toss, India opted to bowl first. Everyone was surprised when Shivam Dube came on to bowl the first over in place of Hardik Pandya, who was out due to injury. However, Dube proved the team management's decision right by delivering a superb spell, giving away only 12 runs in his first two overs.
Pakistan's openers did not lose any wickets initially and put up a strong 84-run partnership. However, the World No. 1 T20 spinner Varun Chakaravarthy broke this stand. After a small 29-run partnership, Pakistan lost their second wicket at 114 runs, after which their batting order collapsed rapidly. In just 32 more runs, they lost 8 wickets and were all out for 146 runs. Despite being under pressure, Indian spinners bowled beautifully and restricted Pakistan from posting a big total.
From Team India, Kuldeep Yadav took the most wickets with 4, while Varun Chakaravarthy, Axar Patel, and Jasprit Bumrah took 2 wickets each. For Pakistan, the highest scorer was opener Sahibzada Farhan, who made 57 runs.
While chasing the target of 147, India found themselves in trouble early, losing 3 wickets for just 20 runs. However, a 57-run partnership between Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson, followed by a 60-run stand between Tilak and Shivam Dube, helped India secure the victory and the championship title.
Tilak Varma was the highest scorer for India with 69 runs off 53 balls, while Dube played a brilliant 33-run innings off just 22 balls. Tilak hit 4 sixes, and Dube hit 2. The winning boundary (a four) was hit by India’s entertaining player Rinku Singh.
Player Awards: Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma Shine Bright
Abhishek Sharma was named Player of the Tournament for his outstanding batting performance throughout the tournament, while Tilak Varma was awarded Player of the Match for his crucial performance in the final.
After India’s victory, the BCCI announced a prize of ₹22 crore for the team. In a heartwarming gesture, Suryakumar Yadav declared he would donate his entire match fee to the Indian Army.
Thank You.
