India’s women cricketers set a record on Sunday by winning the Asia Cup for the eighth time. However, some of the title’s sheen was taken away when Harmanpreet Kaur’s side decided to skip the presentation ceremony after the final against Sri Lanka. The team’s refusal to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s Interior Minister, was a replay of what the men’s team led by Suryakumar Yadav did after winning the 2025 Asia Cup. It was then described as an expression of national sentiment following the Pahalgam terror attack. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has described the decision on Sunday as “institutional” and “collective”, taken in view of the prevailing political tensions. It said the women’s team was expressing solidarity with the men’s side.

The Indian side has also avoided post-match handshakes with Pakistani players. India plays Pakistan in multi-nation events to avoid disqualification under the International Cricket Council (ICC) rules and in consideration of the financial stakes involved in these highly popular fixtures. If the national sentiment is to be respected, as claimed, India should avoid playing against Pakistan and be ready to pay the price for the decision. The current policy and the conduct of the players veered towards theatrics, turning a sporting triumph into an unnecessary show of bitterness.

The team earned the victory and the trophy, and to deny them the right to claim it is unjust. Coach Amol Mazumdar said the trophy did not matter because the team were champions anyway. That is a rhetorical line for public consumption and does not carry conviction. Sport is expected to unite people, not to divide them. The friction that played out in Dubai was dictated by narrow political interests. It was aimed to appease certain sections of people and is of a piece with the divisive policies practised in other areas.

Sporting relations between India and Pakistan have seen better times; the politics were also in tune with those ties. When the Indian team set out for the Pakistan tour in 2004, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee presented captain Sourav Ganguly a signed cricket bat with a written message: khel hi nahi, dil bhi jeetiye – shubhkamnaye (win not only the game, but the hearts too). The team did both. The dominant policy and thinking are different now, and the message is the opposite of what it was. (Source: DH)