Salman Agha, the captain of Pakistan, did the same, declaring that his team will donate the money they made from the final to the children and people impacted by India’s Operation Sindoor. Captain Suryakumar Yadav donated his tournament match fee to the military and the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack after the Indian team defeated Pakistan in Dubai on September 28 to win the Asia Cup 2025.
The heightened tensions between India and Pakistan had a significant impact on the build-up to and aftermath of the final. India launched Operation Sindoor to target terror camps across the border after a terror assault in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, earlier this year lost 26 lives. During the news conference held after the game, the captain of Pakistan declared that he will give the match fees.
At the press conference held after the game, Salman Agha declared, “As a team, we have decided to donate our match fees to the civilians and children affected by India’s attack.”
Cricket is being disrespected by them: Salman Agha
Kuldeep Yadav’s four wickets and Tilak Varma’s game-winning 69* helped the Men in Blue win by five wickets, securing their sixth Asia Cup victory. However, a number of controversies marred the post-match ceremony honouring India’s undefeated campaign, as the Indian players refused to accept the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Interior Minister of Pakistan. Naqvi is also the head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
The announcement of the donation was not the only forceful remark made by the captain of Pakistan. Salman Agha publicly denounced as disappointed and insulting to cricket India’s unwillingness to receive the award from Naqvi.
“What took place during this competition? It is really unsatisfactory, in my opinion. You can see that they believe they are disrespecting us by not shaking hands, but in reality, they are demeaning cricket. And if someone disrespects cricket, I believe it will come back, and I have no doubt that it will,” he remarked.
After more than an hour of delay in the actual presentation ceremony, the ACC finally declared that the Indian team would not be picking up their trophies from Naqvi. Later, the PCB chief was spotted taking the award and walking away.
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