India's Asia Cup Trophy Decision "Will Haunt Them": Pakistan Great Shoaib Malik
India beat Pakistan by five wickets to win their 9th Asia Cup title across formats, thanks to an unbeaten 69 from Tilak Varma.
- India won Asia Cup 2025 title by beating Pakistan but they refused to take trophy from ACC chief Mohsin Naqvi
- Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik stated that this act by India will "haunt them later"
- "Today they may be celebrating this decision, but down the line, this will haunt them," said Malik
Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik shared his views on Team India's decision not to collect the Asia Cup trophy from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi. India beat Pakistan by five wickets to win their ninth Asia Cup title across formats, thanks to an unbeaten 69 from Tilak Varma. However, the night ended in a controversial fashion as the Indian team refused to share the same stage with Naqvi, who is also the Interior Minister of Pakistan.
As a result, Naqvi denied the Indian cricket team the Asia Cup Trophy, after it refused to accept the silverware from him over his anti-India stance.
In a recent interaction, Malik said that India might regret their decision somewhere down the line.
"Just look at how much pressure the players went through, how much heat they endured, how much hard work they put in. For what? To win the trophy, to win the tournament," Malik said in a video shared by Tapmad on YouTube.
"And then, when they worked so hard, they didn't even come to take the trophy. You see, today they may be celebrating this decision in their own way, but down the line, after a few years, this will haunt them. We won the trophy, we worked so hard, but we never collected it," he added.
"At the end of the day, they are athletes, they are sportsmen. A sportsman's job is to come onto the field, give your best shot, and that's it. This was such a massive achievement, such a close match, and not collecting the trophy-it means missing out on the moment. It was a massive moment," said Malik.
Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia expressed his astonishment at Naqvi's act, slamming him for leaving the stadium with the trophy and the medals.
"India is fighting a war with a country, and a leader belonging to that country was supposed to hand over the trophy to us. We cannot accept a trophy from a person who represents a country that is waging a war against our country. So we have refused to take that trophy, but that does not mean that the gentleman will take the trophy and the medals, which are to be given to our country, to his own hotel room," Saikia told ANI.
India Cricket Team
Pakistan Cricket Team
Shoaib Malik