ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Chief Mohsin Naqvi has lashed out at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for linking cricket with war, saying such remarks undermine the spirit of the game.
Responding to Modi’s controversial post after India’s Asia Cup 2025 final win over Pakistan — in which he compared the victory to “Operation Sindoor” — Naqvi said equating sport with military conflict only reflected “desperation, not pride.”
“If war was your measure of pride, history already records your humiliating defeats at Pakistan’s hands. No cricket match can rewrite that truth. Dragging war into sport only exposes desperation and disgraces the very spirit of the game,” Naqvi said on X.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also weighed in, accusing Modi of politicising cricket for personal gain. “Modi is ending the possibilities of peace and solutions in the subcontinent by destroying the culture and spirit of cricket. The score of the Pak-India war, 6-0, has been engraved on stone. Modi stands humiliated both in India and across the world,” Asif said.