India beat Pakistan by 19 runs to defend their Asian Games gold in a thrilling final. Pakistan fared better than what many would have expected, but they
still fell short of the 212-run target and could only muster 192-5. Hasan Nawaz gave India a scare and played a whirlwind innings of 96 off 50 balls, but the target was far too much on the pitch, and he didn't get any support from the other end. A quick start for Pakistan would have made the game much tighter. The game was lost in the powerplay, where Pakistan only scored 39 runs for the loss of two wickets. Saim Ayub tried to support Nawaz and played a knock of 29, but Pakistan were always chasing the game, and eventually fell quite a few runs short.
🚨 INDIA BEAT PAKISTAN TO WIN THE GOLD MEDAL AT THE ASIAN GAMES. 🚨#INDvsPAK #Asiangames #Goldmedal #Bumrah pic.twitter.com/MJAo2HJTYe
— SAHIL NAGPAL (@Pavilionpulse) October 3, 2026
Earlier, India won the toss and opted to bat. The team lost Vaibhav Sooryavanshi early, but Abhishek Sharma continued his brute form and played a scintillating innings of 61 in 28 balls, including seven sixes. There was a mini collapse in the middle overs when India lost Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan cheaply, but a magnificent partnership of 62 in 30 balls between Shivam Dube and Tilak Varma took India to 211-6. Shivam Dube played a good little cameo of 27 in 15 balls, but the real damage was done by Tilak Varma, who made 51 in 22 balls, including four sixes to bat Pakistan out of the game.
Meanwhile, this was the 19th gold for India in the Asian Games 2026, and second in cricket. The women's team had also won a gold after beating Sri Lanka in the final. For Pakistan, they failed to win a medal in last edition, but they are going home with a silver from Japan, and they'll be happy about it.
