It was petty politics once again as India stooped too low to sour the taste of its own victory on the fields. Captain Suryakumar Yadav’s refusal to receive the trophy from Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi, merely because of the fact that he is a Pakistani, meant degrading the gentleman’s game. It also exhibited that India does not care for institutional decorum. Opting for arrogance in the realms of chauvinism, India let down an overwhelming populace of its own who endorse egalitarianism as a policy of statecraft. Likewise, the weird referral to ‘Operation Sindoor’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on to underscore the snobbish mindset that is in vogue in the corridors of power — simply ignoring the ground reality that India was made to bite the dust in the four-day conflict with Pakistan. An attempt to equate it with a win in a game of cricket is nothing but undesired political posturing.
The tendency of showcasing politics in sports must come to an end. The ICC should call out the BCCI for this indecency, and make it stand in retribution. There is no doubt that the Blue Shirts were outstanding on the field throughout the tournament, and clinched Asia Cup for a record ninth time. The Green Shirts and Pakistani spectators were forthcoming in acknowledging that part of excellence on the field, but a pre-decided aggressive on-field behaviour — refusing to shake hands and attributing the victory to war-mongering — is unbecoming of cricket and sportsmanship.
If a subservient Yadav and a jaundiced BCCI were so particular about shunning Pakistan, they should have had the courage of refusing to play rather than making a mockery of values of the great game and its millions of lovers across the globe. India’s decision to breed and eulogise controversy manifests deranged temperament, and it is no surprise that in the sense of statehood too, it is repulsive and bellicose to the core. It’s time for other cricket-playing nations to marshal over a single point of making India realise that it has overstepped in coarseness.
