Former Indian cricketer Atul Wassan has intensified the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 drama by claiming that India captain Suryakumar Yadav was almost “obliged” to dedicate the team’s group-stage win over Pakistan to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
After guiding India to a seven-wicket victory over Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 group match, Suryakumar Yadav had dedicated this triumph to the Indian armed forces and victims of the tragic Pahalgam terror attack earlier this year in April 2025.
Atul Wassan claims Suryakumar Yadav’s tribute was more public pressure than patriotism
This statement didn’t sit well with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and they complained to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and the International Cricket Council (ICC). After the recent hearing, the Indian skipper was handed 30% of his match fees and a warning against repeating the tactic.
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However, Atul Wassan has pointed out that such gestures often reflect public expectation and optics rather than pure sentiment. He even compared Suryakumar Yadav’s situation to Pakistani players Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan, who made provocative on-field gestures in the Super Four game.
The former cricketer believes that the players on both sides are under immense pressure to act in ways that attract attention, and Suryakumar’s move was as much about public perception as patriotism. He emphasized that this type of tokenism does not make the Indian skipper any less patriotic.
I am against these optics and tokenism: Atul Wassan
Atul Wassan was quoted as saying by NDTV: “In India, if I say that the match should continue because the government has allowed it, everybody is coming after me, but that doesn’t make me less of a patriot. If I don’t mention Pahalgam, that doesn’t make me less of a patriot.”
He further added, “I am against these optics and tokenism. If he hadn’t said it, he would still be a patriot, because it’s given that we are all there. But this is the kind of eyeballs and tokenism that people expected, and it acted like a balm, and they lapped it up. But he was obliged to say it, just like they were obliged to do that.”
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Suryakumar Yadav fined 30% for tribute, BCCI challenges ICC decision
Notably, the PCB filed a complaint with the ICC that Suryakumar Yadav’s post-match tribute breached the law. They even wanted the toughest punishment, a Level 4 sanction, as his words were political. And the ICC has also treated similar situations before, like when Usman Khawaja was not allowed to wear shoes protesting the Israel-Gaza conflict.
However, Suryakumar has insisted that his words were just a tribute, not political, but the ICC match referee, Richie Richardson, rejected his plea. As a result, Yadav was fined 30 percent of his match fees. Now, the BCCI has challenged the ICC’s decision, saying his statement was a human gesture and not political.
India is set to face Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 final on Sunday, September 28, in Dubai. However, Abhishek Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Tilak Varma faced cramps in the last game. Abhishek and Tilak are expected to recover fully and be available for the final, but Hardik’s fitness remains uncertain.
