Congress-BJP clash over Asia Cup victory:Saffron party opens attack over Congress silence; Did PM Modi politicise cricket?

In a dramatic turn of events, India beats Pakistan in Dubai at the finals of Asia Cup 2025 however the win is clouded with post match presentation saga. India decided not to accept the trophy from Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi. In return he runs away with the trophy and keeps it with him in his hotel room. Politics also started over the trophy controversy and the chief opposition Congress blamed prime minister Modi of linking Asia Win to Operation Sindoor. National spokesperson of Congress Atul Londhe Patil said, Sometimes I doubt if PM Modi has any knowledge of foreign policy and diplomacy. If we played, we should have played with sportsman spirit. If Operation Sindoor is ongoing, then we shouldn’t have played, He was replying to PM Modi congratulatory tweet after India registered historic win over Pakistan in Asia Cup final. Let’s understand what will happen next. Will India receive the hard earned trophy in the future or is it gone now in today’s why and how? Why does Congress blame PM Modi for politicising the win? Is it fair to politicise cricket? There is no end to the ongoing verbal spats and symbolic gestures that have come up and shown by the players throughout the tournament. Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor gives an unpopular opinion on the matter and advocates handshakes between players saying, “Once we decided to play, we should play by the spirit of the game.” “We must show grace in our victory,” he added. Who is Mohsin Naqvi? “I have been informed by the Asian Cricket Council that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight,” Simon Doull, the presenter for the host broadcaster, said at the ceremony. Why did the Indian team refuse to take the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi? Where is the Asia Cup trophy right now? How did the controversy start in the Asia Cup? How is the BCCI trying to bring back the won Asia Cup trophy? BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said, There is an ICC conference scheduled in Dubai this November, and at that conference, we will launch a very serious and strong protest against the actions of the ACC chairman. Will the trophy be back in India now? What does the ICC rules say? The ICC Code of Conduct doesn’t have a specific clause that says “what happens if a team refuses to accept a trophy”. But a few things apply: However the situation is unique here, the two nations are not on good terms due to political reasons which led to such an incident. Therefore, the ICC will have to look into it very differently in order to reach any conclusion. “India is in conflict with that country, and we were expected to receive the trophy from a leader representing them. We cannot accept a trophy from someone who represents a nation currently at odds with ours,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said post the trophy saga. Have similar incidents happened in the past in cricket? Graphics: Anas Shakir