India secured a nail-biting five-wicket victory against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 final on Sunday, September 28, in Dubai, but the post-match presentation ceremony grabbed the spotlight as the event turned to chaos, leaving the trophy absent. However, this did not deter the spirit of Suryakumar-led India as they found different, unique ways to celebrate a hard-earned win, taking to social media to share their happiness and mock the situation.
The controversy unfolded when Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi, who serves as Pakistan's interior minister, arrived to honor the winning team with medals and a trophy. The Indian team declined to accept them.
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Afterwards, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said, "We decided not to accept the Asia Cup 2025 trophy from the ACC chairman, who represents a country currently at odds with ours. That was our stance. But this does not give him the right to take the trophy and medals. It is extremely unfortunate and unsportsmanlike. We hope the trophy and medals are returned to India as soon as possible. We will launch a serious protest at the ICC conference in Dubai this November."
Notably, this standoff delayed the presentation for over an hour. Salman Agha & Co. collected their medals after declining to accept the runners-up cheque, which captain Salman reportedly threw aside.
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India players' celebration on point, as fans love viral photos without trophy
On the other hand, India celebrated on the field without the physical trophy. Players' creative game was on point, with Surya also mimicking Rohit Sharma's iconic 2024 T20 World Cup walk while holding an imaginary trophy. Later, all-rounder Hardik Pandya hit his trademark trophy celebration pose, but without the trophy itself, while several other players like Tilak Varma, Shubman Gill, and Abhishek Sharma shared photos with edited trophies and jokes in captions.
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Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Jitesh Sharma mocked Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed, replaying his wicket-taking celebrations, including the out of Sanju Samson, in a playful banter jab on social media. Even without a trophy, the Indian players turned the moment into a viral celebration, showing neither PCB nor ACC could lower their energies in Dubai. Fans loved the way Indian players leveled their creative side as India celebrated their ninth Asia Cup Trophy in style and swagger, albeit surrounded by controversy.
