'We are the number one team in the world. Cup cheen sakte hain (The cup can be snatched away), but we are the champions.'
Spinner Varun Chakravarthy has taken a veiled dig at Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi for refusing to hand over the Asia Cup trophy to Team India in Dubai, saying that while the trophy can be withheld, nobody can take away the title of "champions" from India.
Chakravarthy made the remarks during presenter Gaurav Kapur's show 'Breakfast with Champions.'
Following their five-wicket win over Pakistan in a thrilling final, Indian players refused to accept the trophy from Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan's Minister for Interior as well as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman.
The post-match presentation turned chaotic after Naqvi reportedly took the trophy away amid a dispute over who would present it to the Indian captain.
After the conclusion of the closing ceremony, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav carried an "imaginary" trophy and mimicked Rohit Sharma’s slow walk from last year’s T20 World Cup final.
Naqvi later said that India could collect the trophy from the ACC office if they wanted.
Varun, speaking about India's successful campaign and the chaotic post-match proceedings, said: "It felt good, I knew we were going to win all the matches. We are the number one team in the world. Cup cheen saktehain (The cup can be snatched away), but we are the champions."
Varun also recalled his 'coffee cup' celebration on Instagram after the win, where he posted a picture of himself reclining in bed with a coffee mug on his bedside table, standing in for the missing trophy.
The spinner, who took seven wickets in six matches at an average of 20.42 in the tournament, said that he had planned to post a picture of himself sleeping with the trophy. But since it was not presented to the team he decided to post a picture of him lying in his hotel bed with a coffee mug.