India captain Suryakumar Yadav has revealed that it wasn't his team that made anyone wait for the post-match ceremony to start after bthe Asia Cup final against Pakistan. This statement comes after there was a lot of drama following the Men in Blue's victory over their arch-rivals in the final on Sunday. Notably, the post-match ceremony got delayed by close to 45 minutes after India refused to take the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, who is the chairman of both the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
However, Naqvi insisted to hand Suryakumar & Co, with the trophy and this led to a lot of confusion. The ceremony would begin eventually, but India wouldn't collect neither their winner's medals nor the trophy. They rather were seeen having a trophyless celebration on the podium. Now, Suryakumar has shared his take on the matter and has made a big claim as well.
"We didn’t close the door and sit inside the dressing room. We didn’t make anyone wait for the presentation ceremony. Trophy leke bhaag gaye woh (They ran away with the trophy). That’s what I saw. I don’t know, some people were making a video of us, but we were standing. We didn’t go inside," Suryakumar said, speaking to the Indian Express.
Was India's decision influenced by BCCI?
Suryakumar also denied BCCI's involvement in their decision to not take the trophy from Naqvi and claimed that one of the ACC's representatives took the trophy and ran away.
"First of all, let me make it clear, no one from the Government or the BCCI told us anything throughout the tournament that if someone gives a trophy, we won’t take it. We took that decision on our own on the ground. They (ACC officials) were standing there on the stage and we were standing below. I saw them talking on stage and I don’t know the details of their chat. Some in the crowd started booing. And then we saw someone who was their representative taking the trophy and running away," Suryakumar stated.
India's dominant Asia Cup campaign
Meanwhile, India's five-wicket victory over Pakistan in the final saw them win the Asia Cup for a record-extending ninth time in their history. The Men in Blue remained in brilliant form throughout the tournament and won seven matches in a row to once again assert their dominance over the other cricket teams in the Asian continent.