After India’s T20 World Cup 2026 victory, there was a controversy over taking the trophy to the temple. Former cricketer and Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad had strongly criticized Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav and ICC Chairman Jay Shah for taking the trophy to the temple. Kirti Azad, who was a member of Team India that won the 1983 World Cup, had written on ‘X’ that this trophy belongs to 140 crore Indians of every religion. This is not a celebration of the victory of any one religion.
In fact, just hours after the historic victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (8 March), Team India captain Suryakumar Yadav, head coach Gautam Gambhir and ICC Chairman Jay Shah reached Hanuman Tekri Temple with the trophy. He had offered prayers with the T20 World Cup trophy, on which Kirti Azad had strongly objected and even said that shame on Team India! Had questioned why the trophy was not taken to the mosque, church and gurudwara? Now the reply has come from BCCI on this matter.
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What did Kirti Azad say?
Kirti Azad, who played 7 Tests and 25 ODIs for India, had said on taking the trophy to the temple, ‘Shame on you, Team India. When we won the World Cup in 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev, our team had Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian players. We had brought the trophy to our religious birthplace, our motherland India-Bharat-Hindustan.
He further said in his post, ‘Why is the trophy of the Indian cricket team being dragged now? Why not a mosque? Why not church? Why not Gurudwara? This team represents India, not Suryakumar Yadav or Jay Shah’s family. Siraj never took the trophy to the mosque. Sanju never took it to church. Sanju played an important role in this and was the best player of the tournament. This trophy belongs to 140 crore Indians of every religion. No place to celebrate the victory of any one religion.
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What was the response from BCCI?
When BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia was asked questions in a media outlet’s program on Kirti Azad’s statement, he said, ‘That temple is inside the stadium. Near the gallery inside the gate. Falls on the way out of the pavilion. This is a 50 year old temple. Everyone leaves with their fingers crossed. There is no other reason. I don’t know from what perspective Kirti Azad Saheb has seen it.
He clarified and said, ‘This is the humility of the players. He prayed before God and expressed his gratitude. There is no political or communal issue arising from this. Had there been a church there, gratitude would have been expressed towards it too. It’s not a big deal. There is a temple inside the stadium, that’s why we went. No one had gone out. This is a subjective matter. Everyone can see it from their own perspective.
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Gautam Gambhir has expressed his displeasure
Team India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir had expressed displeasure over Kirti Azad’s statement in a podcast and said, ‘See what I have to say about this. It is useless to even answer this question. It is a big moment for the entire country. If you ask me, this is a huge moment for our entire country. I think it is important that we celebrate the World Cup winner. That’s why I said a few things; There is no point in raising some things, because these things will only weaken their (players’) success. If you want to undermine the success of those 15 players and their efforts, then tomorrow anyone will get up and make any statement and we will start taking it seriously, which is not good for the boys.
Gambhir had further said, ‘Imagine how much the boys must have suffered. How much pressure must have been on him after losing a match against South Africa. Today, if you are making such a statement, you are really letting your own players and your own team down, which should not be done.
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