Veteran Indian cricketer Kapil Dev shared his views in the final of the controversial Asia Cup 2025 between India and Pakistan on Sunday (September 28) in Dubai. He urged everyone to focus on cricket instead of politics after the Asia Cup 2025 drama.
The finals raised the cup for the ninth time by defeating Pakistan by five wickets with India, but the ceremony turned into a new controversy. The Indian cricket team led by Suryakumar Yadav refused to accept the trophy and medal from Mohsin Naqvi.
Kapil Dev says to focus on cricket, not politics, Asia Cup 2025 drama
Naqvi is currently working as the internal minister of Pakistan, besides Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC). Since the Asia Cup was organized by ACC ACC, Mohsin Naqvi was entitled to the champion team to hand over the medal of silverware and winners.
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However, in view of the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan, Suryakumar Yadav refused to take the trophy from the internal minister of Pakistan. Naqvi refused to give this honor to someone else, and blue men had to celebrate victory without their official awards.
Prior to the final, the continental tournament had already seen a lot, refusing to join hands with Suryakumar and his team’s Pakistani players, the stimulating “6-0” and “aircraft crash” gestures and “Gunshots” of Sahibzada Farhan’s celebrations.
We should look at the sports side: Kapil Dev
Meanwhile, Kapil Dev insisted that cricket should be a pure game, which is free from political intervention. India’s 1983 World Cup winning captain has highlighted the responsibility of players and media to focus on sports rather than controversies.
Kapil Dev was told by India today, “I just want to say – your responsibility, and the responsibility for the whole media, is that we should look at the sports side instead of looking in favor of politics. Yes, the media has the responsibility to bring everything to the table, but as a player, I would like to see that we will be better than sports.”
Kapil Dev Slams Pakistan’s current team, says that today’s players cannot match the legends of the 80s -90s.
Referring to Pakistan’s performance, the legendary all-rounder has stated that the current team lacks extraordinary talents seen in the 80s and 90s, when legends such as Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Javed Miadad, Zaheer Abbas and Waqar Unis have dominated world cricket.
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Kapil Dev also said that the current players of Pakistan do not come close to that level. The Indian legend further said, “Yes, I think they do not have the same talent that they used ’80s,’ or used to use the ’90s’. Pakistan has given us, the world, one of the best cricketers.”
He signed, saying, “You can talk about Imran Khan, you can talk about Javed Miadad, Zaheer Abbas, Wasim Akram, and’90s, Waqar Younis. He has given us that talent.
In particular, Pakistan made a promising debut between Fakhar Zaman and Sahibzada Farhan with an inaugural partnership of 84 runs. But the middle order dramatically collapsed, lost nine wickets for only 33 runs, ending with a total of 146 in 19.1 overs. India also made an unstable start, lost three initial wickets, but grabbed their nerve and won the game in Dubai.
