Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha seemingly disrespected the cheque of $75000, the runners-up cheque, as he casually tossed it aside before walking up to talk to Simon Doull for the presentation after the Asia Cup 2025 final against India. A video of the same has surfaced on social media as the moment occurred after Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman Mohsin Naqvi presented the cheque.
Salman Agha and his men suffered their third consecutive loss to India in the multi-nation tournament. After losing their nine wickets only for 33 runs, Pakistan were left with a modest 147 to defend. Despite taking the game down to the wire, Tilak Varma's masterful 69 off 53 deliveries along with contributions from Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson, Team India won in commanding fashion.
Watch the below moment:
"I think we couldn't rotate the strike properly" - Salman Ali Agha
Reflecting on Pakistan's mind-boggling collapse when they went from 113/1 to 146 all out, Agha felt some sensible cricket could have changed the story. He elaborated at the post-game presentation:
"Yeah, it is a tough pill to swallow right now. But I think we did not finish well with the bat. And bowling, I think we were outstanding. We gave everything. But yeah, if we could have finished well, it could have been a different story. I think we couldn't rotate the strike properly. And then we, I think, lost too many wickets at times. So I think that was the reason we couldn't score what we wanted. But yeah, we're going to sort out our batting very, very soon."
Only three Pakistan batters in Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman got to double figures as the Men in Green folded for 146 in 19.1 overs. India chased down the target with five wickets and two balls to spare.
