India and PAK are to play one game in the group stage, but there's more on the cards
India and PAK have been put together in Group A of the Asia Cup 2025.
Since India and PAK stopped visiting each other for bilateral series, in every tournament, they are grouped together so that one of the greatest clashes in the history of cricket can take place.
The clash is not from a sporting point of view, but India versus PAK means hefty revenue. Therefore, organisers of every tournament ensure that there is at least one match between India and PAK.
In this year's Asia Cup, both India and PAK will play their second game against each other in Group A. The other two teams in the group are Oman and the host, the United Arab Emirates.
Super Four and beyond
No matter who wins the match in Group A between India and PAK, both teams are expected to move to the Super Four stage. After all, wins against Oman and the United Arab Emirates should be on the cards for both India and PAK.
(Credit- Cricket Addictor)
Therefore, there’s a chance of both teams playing against each other on September 21 in the Super Four stage.
Furthermore, if both teams make it through the Super Four stage, they will clash in the tournament finale, to be played on September 28.
Never in the finale
For the unversed souls, India and PAK have never met each other in the final of the Asia Cup since the tournament’s inception in 1984. The two sides have clashed with each other across the ODI and T20 formats on 18 occasions but have never met in the final of the Asia Cup.
As far as the overall T20 format is concerned, given this year’s format is the T20 format, India and PAK have met each other on 13 occasions since 2007, out of which India has won 10 times, whereas PAK managed only three victories.
What happened in Dubai?
(Credit- Newsbytes)
India and PAK’s clash are in Dubai, and the last time the sides played at this venue, it was the group stage match of the ICC Champions Trophy that went in India’s favour. PAK had posted 241 runs, which were easily chased down by India, thanks to a masterclass by Kohli.
Last Asia Cup match
The last Asia Cup match between the two sides also went in India’s favour. India and PAK met in the Super Four stage of the 2023 edition in Colombo. Batting first, India posted 356 runs, thanks to Virat Kohli’s 122 and KL Rahul’s 111. In response, PAK was packaged for only 128 runs.
(Credit- The Quint)
Overall, India has always had the upper hand against PAK in the Asia Cup. While we hope there will be three clashes, PAK’s inconsistency does not make them a candidate that will make it to the finale. However, cricket is an unpredictable sport, and anything is possible.
