Cricket is often spoken of as a welcome escape, a space where sport rises above everyday quarrels. Yet the Asia Cup final between India and Pakistan in Dubai proved the opposite. The night showed how politics, propaganda, and partisan noise have begun to cast longer shadows than the game itself.

The Match That Couldn’t Breathe on Its Own

In Dubai , cricket should have been allowed to tell its own story: ball against bat, nerves clashing with nerves, and the collective pulse of millions running through every delivery. Instead, the game became smothered by a script written outside the boundary rope.

The Asia Cup final had all the elements of a sporting classic. Tilak Varma ’s nerve of steel, Shivam Dube’s finishing touch, Pakistan’s dramatic collapse, and India’s ninth title. Yet th

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