India beat Pakistan by 7 wickets with 25 balls to spare in their Asia Cup Group A match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Abhishek Sharma’s explosive performance of 31 runs off 13 balls dismantled their top bowling threat, Shaheen Shah Afridi, who conceded 23 runs in just 2 overs. Abhishek crushed Pakistani hopes with a straight boundary followed by a couple of sixes to escalate the run rate. Despite the early loss of Shubman Gill (10) and Abhishek’s departure in the fourth over, Suryakumar and Tilak Naidu (31 off 31 balls) calmly added 56 runs for the third wicket without showing any urgency.
Celebrating his 35th birthday, Suryakumar Yadav delivered an impressive 47 not out off 37 balls, leading the chase to completion in 15.5
overs.
Suryakumar concluded the match in style and headed straight back to the dugout without shaking hands with the Pakistani players on the field.
Asia Cup 2025: India Vs Pakistan – Highlights
Kuldeep Yadav’s artistry, Axar Patel’s discipline, and Varun Chakravarthy’s guile restricted Pakistan to a mere 127/9.
Spinners Axar (2/18 in 4 overs), Kuldeep (3/18 in 4 overs), and Varun (1/24 in 4 overs) delivered impeccable line and length, leaving the Pakistani batters struggling to handle their skill. The outcome was predictable, with no unexpected twists.
Between Axar, Kuldeep, and Varun, they bowled 40 dot balls, with an additional 15 from Jasprit Bumrah, underscoring the Pakistani batters’ difficulties.
If not for Shaheen Shah Afridi’s (33 not out off 16 balls) aggressive batting, the score wouldn’t have surpassed 125.
Suryakumar Yadav lost the toss and did not shake hands with counterpart Salman Ali Agha, but he maintained control as the Pakistani batters faltered from the first legal delivery. Highly rated Saim Ayub (0) slashed one off Hardik Pandya (1/34 in 3 overs) to Bumrah at point.
Bumrah (2/28 in 4 overs) then dismissed last match’s top scorer Mohammad Haris (3), who attempted a pull shot, with Pandya taking a well-judged catch at fine leg.
Sahibzada Farhan (40 off 44 balls) managed a few sixes off Bumrah but struggled against the Indian spinners as dot balls piled up.
It wasn’t just poor shot selection but a lack of technique that troubled the Pakistani batters against the world’s top spinners.
Only Fakhar Zaman (17 off 15 balls) could be excused for taking risks against Axar, given his good track record against slow left-arm orthodox bowlers.
Shortly after Axar’s introduction, Fakhar tried to go big and was caught at long-on by Tilak Varma.
Struggling to read the Indian wrist spinners, the Pakistani batters resorted to the high-risk slog sweep. Skipper Salman (3 off 12 balls) and the hard-hitting Hasan Nawaz attempted to hit their way out of trouble without judging the length and extra bounce.
Left-handed Mohammad Nawaz found Kuldeep’s googly too difficult to handle.
Farhan, who never dominated the spinners, was caught in the deep off Kuldeep as Pakistan’s struggles against India in multilateral events persisted.
(With inputs from Agencies)
