In the Asia Cup 2025 final between Team India and Pakistan in Dubai, the former held their nerves in the thriller and bagged a six-wicket win. Earlier, at the toss, India captain Suryakumar Yadav emerged
victorious against his counterpart Salman Ali Agha and elected to field first. Pakistan got a brilliant start from their openers Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman. Both stitched an aggressive 84-run stand for the first wicket off 58 balls. In the ninth over, Farhan brought his second T20I fifty against India after facing 35 balls. In the next over, the right-handed batter’s innings came to an end as Varun Chakaravarthy stepped up for Indiaand delivered the maiden breakthrough to his team. Sahibzada went back to the dugout with his 57 off 28.
After Farhan’s fall, Saim Ayub came into the middle and he was expected to be impactful. However, the youngster continued his shambolic form in this game as he departed after scoring 14 off 11. Following Ayub’s dismissal, Pakistan’s innings stumbled as Fakhar Zaman, who was settled at the crease lost his battle against Chakaravarthy. Pakistan recorded an unprecedented collapse as they lost their last nine batters after amassing only 33 runs.
Kuldeep Yadav again caused a headache to the Green Army’s batting attack. The left-handed leg-spinner registered 4/20 figures in his four overs. Chakaravarthy, Axar Patel, and Jasprit Bumrah got two wickets apiece.
Tilak Varma's heroics helped India pull of the target in the final over
Chasing the target, India lost their top-order batters at a score of 20 in four overs. In the second over, Faheem Ashraf got rid of Abhishek Sharma, who got dismissed on five off six. In the next over, captain Suryakumar Yadav fell on one against Shaheen Shah Afridi. Shubman Gill also lost his wicket while attempting to attack Ashraf in the fourth over.
In the crunch situation, Tilak Varma showed nerves of steel and built a crucial 57-run stand for the fourth wicket off 50 balls. After Samson's fall, Shivam Dube supported Varma in the middle and stitched a 60-run stand which took India close to the target. Dube got dismissed after playing a vital innings of 33 off just 22.
In the final over, India needed 10 runs to win and Tilak held his nerves and struck a maximum against Haris Rauf. With the shot, only two runs were left for India to cross the mark. Rinku Singh played the winning stroke against Rauf and the Men in Blue succeeded in retaining the title. Tilak remained unbeaten at his score of 69 off 53.
