India defeated Pakistan thrice in the recently concluded Asia Cup.
The Asia Cup 2025 concluded on Sunday (September 28), with India defeating Pakistan by five wickets in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to clinch the continental crown for the record-extending ninth time.
However, India’s triumph was marred by a controversy at the presentation ceremony, where the Suryakumar Yadav-led side refused to accept the trophy from Pakistan's interior minister and Asian Cricket Council president, Mohsin Naqvi, who shared anti-India sentiments on social media throughout the tournament.
India's decision not to collect the coveted trophy from him left Naqvi fuming, and the PCB chief reportedly took the trophy and medallions along with him to his hotel room.
Speaking to India Today, legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev expressed his disappointment on seeing the political conflict between India and Pakistan spilling onto the field.
"I just want to say, your responsibility, and the 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 on the table, but as a sportsman, I would like to see that we should stick to sports. It will be much better," Kapil said.
India defeated Pakistan in all three meetings of the recently concluded Asia Cup. While the title clash went into the last over, India won the group-stage fixture and Super 4 clash rather convincingly by seven wickets and six wickets respectively.
Sharing his views on the standard of cricket in Pakistan, Kapil said he does not feel that the team from across the border has the talent it used to in the 1980s and 1990s.
"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, and Waqar Younis. They have given us that talent. But unfortunately, we can't see similar talent today, not even one per cent of what they used to have," he remarked.