Legendary Indian cricketer Kapil Dev has shared his views on the controversial Asia Cup 2025 final between India and Pakistan on Sunday (September 28) in Dubai. He urged everyone to focus on cricket rather than politics after the Asia Cup 2025 drama.
The final ended with India defeating Pakistan by five wickets to lift the cup for the ninth time, but the celebrations turned into a fresh controversy. The Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian cricket team refused to accept the trophy and medals from Mohsin Naqvi.
Kapil Dev calls for focus on cricket, not politics, amid Asia Cup 2025 drama
Naqvi is currently serving as Pakistan’s Interior Minister, apart from heading the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC). Since the Asia Cup was organized by the ACC, Mohsin Naqvi was entitled to hand over the silverware and the winners’ medals to the champion team.
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But, given the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan, Suryakumar Yadav refused to take the trophy from Pakistan’s Interior Minister. Naqvi refused to give this honor to someone else, and the Men in Blue had to celebrate the victory without their official awards.
Before the final, the continental tournament had already seen a lot, from Suryakumar and his team’s refusal to shake hands with the Pakistani players to Haris Rauf’s provocative “6-0” and “plane crash” gestures and Sahibzada Farhan’s “gunshot” celebration in the Super Four match.
We should look into the sports side: Kapil Dev
Meanwhile, Kapil Dev stressed that cricket should remain a pure sport, free from political interference. India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain has highlighted the responsibility of players and the media to focus on the game rather than controversies.
Kapil Dev was quoted as saying by India Today, “I just want to say—your responsibility, and responsibility for the entire media also, is that we should look into the sports side rather than looking into the politics side. Yes, media has the responsibility to bring everything to the table, but as a sportsman, I would like to see that we should stick to sports. It will be much better.”
Kapil Dev slams Pakistan’s current team, says today’s players can’t match 80s-90s legends
Reflecting on Pakistan’s performance, the legendary all-rounder has pointed out that the current team lacks the kind of exceptional talent seen in the ’80s and ’90s, when legends like Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, and Waqar Younis dominated world cricket.
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Kapil Dev also said that Pakistan’s present players do not come close to that level. The Indian legend further said, “Yeah, I think they don’t have the similar talent they used to have in the ’80s, ’90s or before that. Pakistan has given us, to the world, one of the best cricketers.”
He signed off by saying, “You can talk about Imran Khan, you can talk about Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Wasim Akram, and’90s, Waqar Younis. They have given us that talent. But unfortunately, we can’t see similar talent today—not even one percent of what they used to have.”
Notably, Pakistan had a promising start with an 84-run opening partnership between Fakhar Zaman and Sahibzada Farhan. But the middle order collapsed dramatically, losing nine wickets for just 33 runs, finishing with a total of 146 in 19.1 overs. India also had a shaky start, losing three early wickets, but they held their nerve and won the game in Dubai.
