Tilak Varma’s post-match celebration became one of the most talked about moments after India clinched the Asia Cup 2025 title with a thrilling five-wicket win over Pakistan at the Dubai Cricket Stadium on Sunday, September 28.
Moments after sealing the hard-fought victory, Varma saluted the crowd and formed a 'V' symbol with his fingers a gesture fans quickly began decoding. While the 'V' traditionally stands for "victory", social media users drew connection to the 11 Pakistani air bases destroyed by Indian Air Force during Operation SIndoor.
Fans decode Tilak Verma's V Sign celebration
Suryakumar Yadav lashes at ACC for being denied trophy
Having won the Asia Cup beating Pakistan for the third time in a space of two weeks, Suryakumar and the team refused to take the trophy from Asian Cricket Council chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board chief and more importantly the 'Interior Minister' of his country, known for his vocal anti-India stand.
Since the Indian team didn't take the trophy from Naqvi, the presentation ceremony was concluded with Naqvi leaving the dais and taking the trophy with him on Sunday night.
Lashing out at ACC, Surya said, ,"I think this is one thing which I have never seen since I started playing and following cricket that a champion team is denied a trophy. I mean that too a hard-earned one. It's not like it happened easily. It was a hard-earned tournament win,"
Despite not taking the trophy, the skipper tried to imitate Rohit Sharma's walk from the T20 World Cup 2024 final. The Indian players shadow-lifted a trophy following the presentation ceremony of the Asia Cup 2025 final.
Earlier in the match, Tilak Varma starred with the bat for the Men in Blue, anchoring the chase with a composed 69* off 53 balls. His knock included three fours and four sixes, the most crucial of which came in the final over against Haris Rauf. With India needing eight runs off the last six balls, Tilak launched Rauf over the ropes to bring the equation down to two off four.
Rinku Singh, facing his first delivery of the match and of the tournament then struck a six to seal the victory with two balls remaining, sparking jubilant celebrations among players and fans.
Shivam Dube also played a vital role in the chase, scoring 33 off 22 balls, while Kuldeep Yadav's earlier brilliance with the ball had put India in control during Pakistan’s innings.
