Drama, drama, drama. The India vs Pakistan Asia Cup final was never expected to be short on drama, and that is what the fans witnessed on Sunday. It all started with PAK skipper Salman Ali Agha posing alone with the trophy, extended to PAK demanding Waqar Younis as the presenter at toss, and now, the Indian team refusing to take the trophy from ACC chief Mohsin Naqvi.
Presentation or no presentation?
First, as per PTI it emerged that the Pakistani team waited in the dressing room, with Naqvi having no clue about it. That delayed the presentation ceremony by close to an hour. Finally, once the latter reached the stage, he was booed by the Indian crowd. That only seemed fitting, after he tweeted out an AI-generated video, in bad taste, a few days back.
After prolonged delay, after the presentation started after well past 1 AM, the Pakistani team did collect the awards, but it also became clear, that the winners weren’t interested in collecting their trophy from Naqvi.
Broadcaster Ravi Shastri too wasn’t happy with the entire situation. He said, “The match was over 45 minutes ago and the players are waiting after the win. But the presentation ceremony hasn’t yet happened. The players are being made to wait. It’s ridiculous.” Soon after it emerged, that the Indian team did not want to accept the trophy from Naqvi.
Team India, Pakistan, Mohsin Naqvi clueless
For a brief moment, reports came in, that India would receive the Trophy from Khalid Al Zarooni, vice-chairman Emirates Cricket Board, but that was not to be, after all, as the presentation ended prematurely. That wasn’t even the end of the proceedings. A new tweet from RevSportz suggested that Indians were to lodge a protest as they were made to wait for over 45 minutes.
As far as the match is concerned, Indians were excellent with the ball, restricting the opposition to under 150. IN reply, they too batted poorly, but Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube ensured that India went over the line. On the day, Haris Rauf proved to be very expensive, leaking over 50 runs in his 4 overs.
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