Former India wicketkeeper-batter Syed Kirmani has advised the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian cricket team to keep politics away from cricket. The 1983 World Cup-winner put forward his opinion after what transpired in the Asia Cup 2025. During the tournament, the Indian players refused to shake hands with their Pakistani opponents as the teams came faced off thrice, which included the final match. The Indian players did this due to the escalated tensions between the two nations post the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed the lives of 26 citizens.
Things got bitter as the Pakistani players, including the likes of Haris Rauf and Shahibzada Farhan, came up with provocative gestures during of the matches.
This was not the end as Indian team also refused to take the winners' trophy and medals from Asian Cricket Council head Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan's interior minister and the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. As a result, the ACC didn't give India the trophy as well as the medals, sparking massive controversy.
"The way cricket is being played all around, there has been no gentleman-ness in the game. There have been very rude, arrogant gestures on the field... I'm getting messages from all over... The Indian team has done what? What politics is going on in the field?" Syed Kirmani told ANI.
"I'm ashamed to listen to the comments. 'What's happened to the current era of cricketers? What has happened at the Asia Cup is disgusting' - These are the words that have come onto my messages... It is very depressing to me the way things are going on in the sporting field, particularly in cricket... 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 sporting field, leave it there itself. Don't relate it to your winning amount or whatever you are earning from this great game of cricket," he added.
At the end of the tournament, India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav announced of donating his match fees from Asia Cup 2025 to the Indian army and the families of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
"Don't dedicate it to noble causes... Any noble cause, quite understandable, but do not relate it to the politics... In our time, cricketers had such wonderful camaraderie. Pakistani players coming to India, we're going to Pakistan. What hospitality, what love, what affection... I have to put my head down as a cricketer..." said Kirmani.
