Chaos in Asia Cup Final: Relive THAT one hour which snatched all attention away from cricket

Team India won the 2025 Asia Cup final against Pakistan, beating them by five wickets in Dubai on Sunday evening (Sep 28). Rinku Singh, playing his first game of the tournament, hit the winning runs as the Men in Blue clinched a victory in this nervy final with two balls remaining. However, what transpired after that stole all the attention as cricket seemed to have lost its place in line. Drama, chaos, boos, cheers and everything beyond marred a classic India vs Pakistan final, attracting a billion eyeballs and little embarrassment to the Men in Green.

That one hour after Rinku’s one-ball heroics, plenty happened both on and off the field. While the winning team rushed to the dugout to celebrate with their teammates and the support staff, the dejected Pakistani side walked straight to their dressing room, locking themselves in.

The Indian players, present at the ground, enjoyed their time taking selfies while giving interviews to the broadcasters, whereas there was no sign of the Salman Agha-led side coming out, leading to a delay in the presentation ceremony.

However, it all began when the Indian Team denied receiving the coveted Asia Cup trophy from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, who also happens to be the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and an interior minister in the serving Pakistani government. Upon learning about India’s stance, the ACC held internal discussions to find a middle ground.

A Times of India report suggests that the Indian Team requested to collect the Asia Cup trophy from Emirates Board vice-chairman Khalid Al Zarooni, but that request was denied. Naqvi, however, insisted on handing over the trophy and winning medals to the Indian Team. The Men in Blue, who earlier stood their ground by avoiding a handshake with their counterparts across three contested matches in this edition, decided against receiving it from Naqvi.

The boos and no-trophy celebration

After much debate, the mandatory presentation ceremony got underway, with ACC head Naqvi among the guests present at the podium. The Indian fans in attendance booed him and the Pakistani players, who walked towards the stage to receive their runners-up medals. Chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ echoed across the Dubai International Stadium, with Salman hogging little attention by rudely throwing away the runners-up cheque.

Following the mandatory announcements and prize distributions, with Indian opener Abhishek Sharma also receiving his Player of the Tournament award, presenter Simon Doull informed everyone about Team India’s decision not to collect their Asia Cup trophy from Naqvi tonight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have been informed by the Asian Cricket Council that the Indian cricket team will not be collecting their awards tonight. So that does conclude the post-match presentation," informs Simon Doull at the post-match presentation.

Meanwhile, the Indian Team patiently waited to collect the trophy, even with a champion placard being brought twice (by the groundsmen), only for it to be taken back. Moments later, Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya walked towards the podium (after Naqvi left the stage with the trophy without handing it over to the Indian Team), with his teammates joining him.

The Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav also did a slow-mo celebration (without a trophy), inspired by former WWE champion Ric Flair’s walk, which Rohit also did after the Champions Trophy triumph.