Modi under fire for dubbing Asia Cup win ‘Operation Sindoor’ as trophy row deepens

WEB DESK: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing mounting criticism after describing India’s Asia Cup 2025 triumph over Pakistan as “Operation Sindoor,” a remark widely condemned for militarising sport and stoking nationalist sentiment.

In a post on X, Modi congratulated his players while linking the victory to “Operation Sindoor”, the codename for India’s four-day military confrontation with Pakistan in May. “#OperationSindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same — India wins!” he wrote.

The comment triggered outrage across social media. One journalist observed: “A prime minister declaring a cricket match equal to war. Just because India lost the war to Pakistan they need anything, just anything, to compensate for that loss.” Another user called the statement “tone-deaf.”

Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi joined the criticism, accusing Modi of “dragging war into sport.” He said: “If war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan’s hands. No cricket match can rewrite that truth.”

The controversy escalated further when the Indian team refused to collect the trophy from Naqvi at the post-match ceremony, with commentator Simon Doull confirming the decision live. Pakistan captain Salman Agha said India had “disrespected cricket,” adding: “Good teams do not behave like this.”

Symbolic gestures followed from both boards. The PCB announced players would donate their match fees to civilians killed in the May 7 Indian attack, while India’s Suryakumar Yadav pledged his earnings to Indian victims, later downplaying the snub by calling his teammates the “real trophies.”

The Asia Cup, the first bilateral cricketing encounter since the May military clash, was expected to revive one of sport’s greatest rivalries. Instead, it has been overshadowed by boycotts, politicised remarks, and repeated hostility, from India’s refusal to shake hands post-match to ICC reprimands for Pakistani players’ on-field gestures.

For many, Modi’s “Operation Sindoor” reference has epitomised how a game meant to unite South Asia has been reduced to another battlefield for nationalist narratives, leaving cricket itself the biggest casualty.