India captain Suryakumar Yadav said that he had “never seen” a champion side denied a well-deserved trophy, after India was left without the Asia Cup trophy on Sunday night in Dubai. But he insisted that he was not “disappointed.”

“This is one thing which I have never seen since I have started playing cricket, since I have started following cricket that a champion team is denied to get a trophy,” Suryakumar said. “That too a hard-earned one, it’s not like we got it easily. It was a hard-earned tournament. We were here since the 4th [September], played two back-to-back good games. I feel we deserved it. I can’t say anything more, I think I have summed it up really well, I can’t say anything more about it. We can’t say we were disappointed. But if you see, we had a lot of smiles on our faces as we were on the ground enjoying the moment on the podium.”

However, India refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, the Asian Cricket Council president and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, leading to a delay in the post-match presentation as well. The standoff meant the champions finished the night without a trophy in their hands as well. Meanwhile, Suryakumar later clarified that the decision not to receive the trophy from Naqvi was made by the players themselves, not by administrators as well. He also said that he was unaware of any official communication between the BCCI and the ACC regarding the presentation as well.

READ HERE: Shubman Gill Takes Sly Dig At His Critics After India Win At Edgbaston

“I have no idea about this [any communication between BCCI and ACC]. We took this call on the ground. No one told us to do this,” Suryakumar Yadav said.

“Rinku Singh hit a four. India won the Asia Cup. After that, we came out and we were celebrating and we applauded every player’s achievement. Tilak, Kuldeep and Abhishek got a car. We celebrated that too. So, what more do you want? This was the chain of events that we wanted to achieve. And we also saw that the champions’ (flexi) board came and went back. We saw that too. It’s okay. It keeps on happening. It’s a part of life,” he added.

Suryakumar Yadav, though, ensured his team didn’t miss the trophy-lifting moment as well. However, on the podium, he mimed lifting the trophy, drawing cheers as his teammates joined in the act as well.

“If you tell me about the trophies, my trophies are sitting in the dressing room, all the 14 guys, all the support staff,” Suryakumar Yadav said. “Those are the real trophies who I have been a big fan of throughout this journey of Asia Cup. Those are the real trophies, the real moments which I am taking back as lovely memories and which will stay forever.”

“The win is important. If you have seen after the match ended, ‘India’ was written on the big screen. Asia Cup 2025 Champions. Now what’s better than this? All the boards have champions written on them. 2025 Asia Cup. And you play for that only. And I am sure everyone agrees. I think it was a great moment. Great journey. Great campaign for us as a team. And I am sure the support staff will also agree. And we had a lot of fun,” he said.

“I feel it was not that difficult,” Suryakumar Yadav said on keeping out of off-field distractions. “The boys took it in their stride. They were really happy with the way the campaign was going. Since day one I have been telling them only one thing: Let’s just focus on cricket on the ground. And when we go to the practice sessions, let’s enjoy what we are doing. Do the same things that we want to do in the game. I think the boys took it in a positive way. I feel [to remain] unbeaten in the tournament, the boys stepped up whenever needed. I think those are the small moments, small trophies, which we won going forward into the World Cup year.”

Before leaving the press conference, Suryakumar Yadav also announced that he would be donating his earnings from the tournament as well.

“As a gesture, I want to donate my match fees from all the games in this tournament to the Indian Army,” he said, later saying in a tweet that he meant the “Indian Armed Forces.” “I don’t know if people will call it controversial, but for me, it’s the right thing to do.”