Congress Hit out at Modi for Bringing in “Operation Sindoor” in India’s Asia Cup Win, Suryakumar Appreciates

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Sept 29: Even as India’s Asia Cup winning T20 Cricket team captain Suryakumar Yadav expressed his admiration for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support and enthusiasm, the Congress on Monday hit out at Modi’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ post over India’s Asia Cup win against Pakistan saying it was not right to “compare a cricket match to a battlefield.”

After India beat Pakistan by five wickets in the Asia Cup final at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, Mr Modi posted on X to congratulate the team and compared the match to Operation Sindoor. “Operation Sindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same — India wins! Congrats to our cricketers,” he said.

Congress leader Pawan Khera reshared the Prime Minister’s post on X and said, “Prime Minister ji, first of all, it is not right to compare a cricket match to a battlefield.” “Second, if you have made the comparison anyway, then you need to learn from the Indian team that when you are close to victory, good captains do not ceasefire on the orders of any third umpire,” he added.

The mood between team India and Pakistan was evidently tense as the Asia Cup matches took place against the backdrop of the border tensions following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead.

The Indian players had also refused to shake hands with their Pakistani opponents during any of the match. Following their final victory as well, the Suryakumar Yadav-led team did not accept the Asia Cup trophy from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi.

Naqvi had previously registered a complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) over team India’s behaviour after the handshake snub. He had also shared objectionable posts on social media, showing Pakistan’s claims of downing Indian fighter jets in the conflict after Operation Sindoor, a claim that Islamabad has presented no proof for. Earlier, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had taken to X to congratulate team India and extended a ‘salute’ to coach Gautam Gambhir.

“As we rejoice at the thrilling victory in the #AsiaCup final last night, let us also pay tribute to the oft-maligned coach, @GautamGambhir and the selectors, who picked the perfect team for the tournament. They are always the first to be blamed when things go wrong, But let’s salute them for getting pretty much everything right this time,” Tharoor wrote on X.

Suryakumar Yadav hailed PM Modi’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ post for India’s Asia Cup win, saying that it felt good as the nation’s leader himself “bats on the front foot.” He further said, “…it felt like he took the strike and scored runs. It was great to see, and when the sir is standing in front, then definitely the players will play freely.” “The most important thing is that the whole country is celebrating. When we go back (to India), it will feel good, and we will get more inspiration and motivation to do well,” he added.

India’s thrilling Asia Cup victory over Pakistan took an unexpected turn when the team refused to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman. Despite winning the tournament, Indian players celebrated without the trophy, instead posing with imaginary trophies on stage.

Captain Suryakumar Yadav later expressed disappointment, saying, “I feel we deserved it. I’ve never seen a champion team denied a trophy.” The BCCI had previously informed the ACC that India wouldn’t accept the trophy from Naqvi due to his political role and anti-India remarks.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief and the country’s Interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, who humiliated himself on the world stage when he walked off with the Asia Cup trophy after India refused to accept it from his hands, claimed that India had disgraced the spirit of the game.

Stung by a resounding defeat at the hands of India, PCB Chief Mohsin Naqvi, whose X account is withheld in India, responded on the microblogging platform to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s congratulatory post after the game. “If war were your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan’s hands. No cricket match can rewrite that truth. Dragging war into sport only exposes desperation and disgraces the very spirit of the game,” said Naqvi.

Naqvi’s lack of understanding of history and facts is clearly exposed, and he needs a stern reminder of the number of times Pakistan has had to bow before Indian superiority during conflicts. Starting from 1971, when Lieutenant General AAK Niazi, commander of Pakistani forces, signed the Instrument of Surrender to the Indian Army, marking the end of the war, to the Kargil Conflict, where former PM Nawaz Sharif admitted that they were at fault for violating the Lahore Declaration.

And then Operation Sindoor, where Indian forces first decimated as many as nine terror sites, and as Pakistan began its misadventure, the Armed Forces attacked with force, leaving many airbases like Nur Khan destroyed. And on the India trounced Pakistan multiple times and walked away with the title with a five-wicket win in the Asia Cup final in Dubai on Sunday.

Even after the final, drama continued to unfold off the field, with the post-match presentation being delayed by 90 minutes. Eventually, the presentation began, and the Indian players turned up to collect the individual awards. Three Indian players received their individual awards from other dignitaries on stage, while Salman accepted the runners-up cheque from PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. The Indian players did not acknowledge Naqvi. But the ACC chairman never applauded the Indian players.