The Asia Cup 2025 ended with India lifting their consecutive title and ninth in the history of the competition with a win over Pakistan in a final over thriller in Dubai.
With the five-wicket win on Sunday, India made it 3-0 against Pakistan in this edition of Asia Cup, extending their head-to-head win streak to 8 consecutive wins.
While India continued their dominance against the arch-rivals, former India World Cup winner Syed Kirmani looked unhappy with how things panned out between the two teams on the field, expressing his displeasure at involving politics in sports.
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Syed Kirmani finds IND-PAK on-field tensions depressing
The tempers flared on the field right from the toss of the group stage clash between the teams as India played Pakistan for the first time since the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent cross-border tensions in the summer.
From India refusing the handshakes in the first encounter to Haris Rauf's questionable gestures and the champions not receiving the trophy, things between the teams kept escalating throughout the tournament.
Following the events in the tournament, in his interview with ANI, Kirmani questioned the new generation of cricketers and the board over their decisions and felt the situation is depressing.
"It is not the right thing that has happened — politics should not enter sports in general. Leave politics behind — whatever has transpired away from the field, leave it there itself and don't relate it to your winning amount or dedicate to the noble causes or whatever. This is my way of looking at it," said Kirmani.
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"Our time of cricketers had such a wonderful camaraderie. Pakistan coming here and we going to Pakistan — what hospitality, what love, what affection, exchanging pleasantries. Where is that gone now? It is absolutely depressing, according to me and so is the feeling in general cricket lovers," he added.
The 75-year-old boasts of a long career with India, which spans from 1976 to 1986, during which he played 88 Tests for his 2759 runs with the help of 2 centuries and 12 fifties.
The First-Class cricket legend, with 275 matches under his belt, where he scored 9620 runs also represented India in 49 ODIs and scored 373 runs.
He was a crucial member of India's World Cup triumph in 1983 and played an important knock of 24*(56) alongside Kapil Dev's 175*(138) at Tunbridge against Zimbabwe in their famous win.
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