**Dubai:** Being denied a deserving trophy after winning a marquee event is a first for India’s T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav, but he remains unruffled thanks to his 14 “priceless” teammates, each as “precious” as the Asia Cup silverware.

Having won the Asia Cup by beating Pakistan for the third time in a span of two weeks, Suryakumar and the team refused to take the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman Mohsin Naqvi. Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board chief and the country’s ‘Interior Minister,’ is known for his vocal anti-India stance. Since the Indian team declined to receive the trophy from Naqvi, the presentation ceremony concluded with Naqvi leaving the dais and taking the trophy with him on Sunday night.

### Suryakumar Yadav Reacts to Being Denied the Trophy

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Suryakumar expressed his disappointment and lashed out at the ACC. He said, “I think this is one thing which I have never seen since I started playing and following cricket — that a champion team is denied a trophy. I mean, that too a hard-earned one. It’s not like it happened easily. It was a hard-earned tournament win.”

Answering a query from PTI about how it felt to be denied the biggest prize after winning seven games at the continental showpiece, he added, “We were here since September 4, played a game today, and two back-to-back good games in two days. I feel we deserved it. And I can’t say anything more. I think I have summed it up really well.”

Despite his disappointment, the Indian skipper sent a heartwarming message to his teammates, including “flavour of the month” Abhishek Sharma, who was sitting beside him.

He said, “If you tell me about the trophies, my trophies are sitting in my dressing room. All the 14 guys with me. All the support staff. Those are the real trophies. These are real moments which I am taking back as lovely memories which will stay with me forever going forward. And that’s all.”

On social media platform X, Suryakumar posted, *“When the game is done, only the champions will be remembered and not the picture of a trophy.”*

### Composure Amid Accusations of Politics

It has been close to 14 months since Suryakumar Yadav was appointed T20 captain, and this Asia Cup was certainly his biggest tournament yet, even though his own batting remained quiet throughout.

When a Pakistani journalist accused him of bringing petty politics onto the cricket field—refusing to shake hands with his counterpart Salman Ali Agha and skipping the customary pre-final photo shoot—Suryakumar kept his composure. Smiling, he told the Indian media manager, “You are getting angry, right? Why are you getting so angry?” He then responded to the journalist, “You asked four questions in one.”

Another Pakistani journalist tried to corner him by asking if he was aware of a BCCI mail to the ACC stating the team would not receive the trophy from Naqvi. Suryakumar replied, “I don’t know what you’re saying about the e-mail. I have no idea about this. We took this call on the ground. No one told us to do this.”

He challenged, “If you win a tournament, do you deserve the trophy or not? You tell me.” The journalist could only nod in agreement.

### Celebrations Without the Trophy

Despite the absence of the physical trophy during celebrations, fans circulated an AI-generated image of Surya and Tilak renewing the Asia Cup trophy on social media. When asked how the celebrations felt without the trophy, Suryakumar was quick with a witty reply: “You haven’t seen the trophy? I have brought it. The team was sitting on the podium. And Abhishek and Shubman have already posted the photo with the trophy. It looks so good. See how it is.”

When a journalist requested him to narrate the chain of events that led to the team not accepting the trophy from the Interior Minister of Pakistan, Suryakumar replied with his trademark cheekiness:

“Rinku Singh hit a four. India won the Asia Cup. After that, we came out and we were celebrating and applauded every player’s achievement — Tilak, Kuldeep, and Bhai (Abhishek) got a car. We celebrated that too. So, what more do you want? This was the chain of events that we wanted to achieve.”

He added with a shrug, “And we also saw that the champions’ (flexi) board came and went back. We saw that too. It’s okay. It keeps on happening. It’s a part of life.”

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*Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.*
https://www.freepressjournal.in/sports/champions-are-remembered-not-the-picture-of-a-trophy-indias-t20-skipper-suryakumar-yadav-on-asia-cup-win