Former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad criticized Team India’s recent celebrations after the historic T20 World Cup 2026 win. The Trinamool Congress MP criticized captain Suryakumar Yadav, head coach Gautam Gambhir and ICC chairman Jay Shah for visiting a Hindu temple in Ahmedabad with the trophy.
India created history by winning a record-breaking third T20 World Cup title by defeating New Zealand by 96 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium. After winning the final on Sunday, March 8, the captain and head coach visited the Hanuman Tekri temple to perform special puja with silver utensils.
Kirti Azad questions Suryakumar Yadav-led Team India’s celebration of winning the T20 World Cup 2026
Kirti Azad shared his views about the post-match religious ceremonies. The 1983 World Cup winner questioned why the coveted trophy was not taken to a mosque, church or gurudwara as the victory meant for people of every religion in the country.
“Why not a mosque? Why not a church? Why not a Gurudwara?… The trophy belongs to 1.4 billion Indians of every religion – not the victory lap of any one religion!” Azad wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Team India should be ashamed!
When we won the World Cup in 1983 under the leadership of Kapil Dev, we had Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians in our team.
We brought the trophy to our religious birthplace, our motherland India India Hindustan
After all, why is the Indian cricket trophy being pulled…
– Kirti Azad (@KirtiAzaad) 9 March 2026
We brought the trophy to our religious birthplace – Kirti Azad
The former cricketer described the specific religious preference as shameful and recalled how his 1983 World Cup-winning team under Kapil Dev had celebrated this huge achievement by dedicating the trophy solely to their motherland without any religious bias.
Azam further said, “When we won the World Cup in 1983 under the leadership of Kapil Dev, our team had Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. We brought the trophy to our religious birthplace, our motherland, India, Hindustan.”
“This team represents India – not Surya Kumar Yadav or Jay Shah’s family. (Mohammad) Siraj never paraded it to the mosque. Sanju (Samson) never took it to the church… The latter played a major role in it and became the man of the tournament.”
Suryakumar Yadav’s emotional gesture on the pitch
Just after the victory, Suryakumar Yadav showed emotional expression. After the final wicket of New Zealand’s innings, the Indian captain walked onto the pitch, took soil in his hands and applied it on his forehead to celebrate the victory.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led side became the first team to defend the T20 World Cup title. They also became the first team to win the T20 World Cup on home soil. This was their third title overall, and they now hold the record for most T20 World Cup trophies in history.
Suryakumar Yadav also had a stellar individual campaign as he finished as India’s third-highest run-scorer in the tournament with 242 runs in nine innings at an impressive strike rate of 136.72.
During the summit clash, India scored a total of 255 runs, becoming the highest score ever in a T20 World Cup final. Sanju Samson played a brilliant inning of 89 runs in 46 balls. Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel took four and three wickets respectively.
Also read: Sanju Samson is going to get a special honor from the Kerala government after his heroics in T20 World Cup 2026.