 "Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev wants sports and politics to be kept away from each other. Image: PTI")
Legendary Indian cricketer Kapil Dev has called for politics and sports to be kept separate after the trophy controversy in the Asia Cup 2025. In one of the most politically-charged cricket tournaments in modern history, India refused to shake hands with Pakistan in all three Asia Cup 2025 matches.
The Asia Cup was being held just a few months after the Pahalgam terror attack and Indian players felt it was necessary to express solidarity with the victims of the attack and the Indian Army. Nonetheless, their boycott led to a series of antics by Pakistani players as they refused to appear in pre-match press conferences and also made provocative gestures.
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The climax was most dramatic as Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi of Pakistan was hell bent on presenting the trophy to India after they beat Pakistan by five wickets in the final. However, India refused to take the silverware from him and later celebrated with an imaginary cup .
Kapil Dev asks sports to be kept separate from politics
1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev was recently asked to share his opinion on the Asia Cup fracas and the former all-rounder candidly said that he doesn’t want politics to be dragged into sport.
“I just want to say — your responsibility, and responsibility for the entire media also we should look into the sports side rather than looking into the politics side. Yes, media has the responsibility to bring everything on the table, but as a sportsman, I would like to see that we should stick to sports. It will be much better,” Kapil Dev told India Today.
Also Read | Suryakumar Yadav reveals Indian players faced constant abuse from Pakistan team in Asia Cup
The 66-year-old Kapil Dev also spoke on the decline of the Pakistan cricket team, as he highlighted the lack of top-class talent in the side.
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More Shorts“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. You can talk about Imran Khan, you can talk about Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Wasim Akram, 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,” Kapil Dev added.