With controversy brewing over former player Kirti Azad’s tweet after India’s World Cup win where he slammed skipper Suryakumar Yadav, head coach Gautam Gambhir and Jay Shah for taking the trophy to a temple, current Men in Blue player Ishan Kishan refused to react to a question posed by a reporter on the row.
“Sir, we just won the World Cup. You should ask better questions. What can I say about what Kirti Azad has said. Please ask better questions on how winning the Cup feels for me and how much fun it was (Itna accha World cup jeete hain. Kitna accha sawaal aap log kijiyega. Kirti Azad kya bolein ab ismain main kya boloon? Accha sawaal kijiye na ki kaisa mazaa aya)” Kishan said to reporters after returning from Ahmedabad as per an IANS video.
Patna, Bihar: Cricketer Ishan Kishan says, “…What has Kirti Azad said about this? Now, what should I say about it?…” pic.twitter.com/P12gonGLVe
— IANS (@ians_india) March 10, 2026
On Monday, Azad, who was a part of the 1983 World Cup winning team, had posted that the T20 World Cup Trophy belonged to 1.4 billion Indians of every faith and it was not one particular religion’s victory lap.
“SHAME ON TEAM INDIA! When we won the World Cup under Kapil Dev in 1983, we had Hindu Muslim Sikh and Christian in the team. We brought the trophy to our religious birth place our motherland India Bharat Hindustan Why The Hell Is The Indian Cricket Trophy is being Dragged. Why NOT a Mosque? Why NOT a Church? Why NOT a Gurudwara? This Team Represents INDIA — not Surya Kumar Yadav’s or Jay Shah’s Family ! Siraj never paraded it at a Mosque. Sanju never took it to a Church. latter had a major part to play and was man of the tournament. The Trophy Belongs to 1.4 BILLION Indians of EVERY Faith — NOT ONE RELIGION’S VICTORY LAP!,” the tweet read.
SHAME ON TEAM INDIA! 😡
When we won the World Cup under Kapil Dev in 1983, we had Hindu Muslim Sikh and Christian in the team.
We brought the trophy to our religious birth place our motherland India Bharat Hindustan
Why The Hell Is The Indian Cricket Trophy is being Dragged.…
— Kirti Azad (@KirtiAzaad) March 9, 2026
Even former India player Harbhajan Singh said that he found Azad’s statement as absurd and asked him not to politicize the situation. “It’s absurd that someone is politicising the players taking the trophy to a temple… Kirti himself is a former cricketer, so I didn’t expect him to say such a thing… Perhaps he’s prioritising politics more and has forgotten he’s a sportsman…,” Harbhajan said in a video shared by ANI.
#WATCH | Delhi | On BCCI announcing Rs 131 Crore prize money for Team India for winning the ICC T20 World Cup, Former Indian Cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh, says, “I was expecting more, because when such a big task is undertaken, the reward should be even greater.… pic.twitter.com/xOxejmhZEG
— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2026
India on Sunday won the T20 World Cup for the third time after defeating New Zealand in the final by 96 runs at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
