TimesofIndia.com in Dubai: Amidst all the drama off the pitch, cricket finally had the last laugh on the last day of the Asia Cup as the final between India and Pakistan went down to the wire.
There is a saying that an India versus Pakistan match is not for the faint-hearted, and Sunday's contest proved that belief.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Riding on the crafty bowling of
Kuldeep Yadav (4/30) and a gritty unbeaten knock by Tilak Varma (69 off 53), India beat Pakistan by five wickets to win the 2025 Asia Cup at the Dubai International Stadium.
India started as favourites, while Pakistan were cornered as underdogs. But Pakistan put on a spirited performance and, at multiple stages, had the match in their grasp.
As it happened: India vs Pakistan Asia Cup Final Sahibzada Farhan’s blistering 38-ball 57 gave them a flying start, but they collapsed like a pack of cards, losing nine wickets for just 33 runs. Pakistan also had an ideal start with the ball, removing the in-form
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, and the out-of-form
Suryakumar Yadav inside the powerplay, leaving India reeling at 20/3.
It was a two-paced surface, and as Pakistan head back to Lahore on Monday, they will rue their batting collapse, which kept India in the game. The reigning T20 world champions held their nerves and registered another gritty win in this tournament.
Chasing a tricky target, India overcame a shaky start to finish the powerplay at 36/3 before Tilak Varma’s composure, Sanju Samson’s important cameo, and Shivam Dube silencing his critics first with the ball and then with the bat steered India home.
Pakistan were all over India at the start. The tone was set when Abhishek Sharma, who had been in red-hot form all tournament, fell cheaply for the first time. After punching a four through cover-point with a defensive stroke that raced away, he perished in single digits to Faheem Ashraf’s clever slower ball. Faheem celebrated animatedly as Haris Rauf clung onto a sharp catch at mid-on. Shubman Gill soon departed as well, miscuing another to the same fielder.
Tilak Varma then walked in under pressure and made a statement. In the final over of the powerplay, he launched Faheem for a six and four in quick succession, breaking the shackles with fearless strokeplay. But India suffered another setback when Sanju Samson, dropped once by Hussain Talat, couldn’t capitalise and fell for 24, edging to backward point against Abrar Ahmed.
From that point, India’s innings hinged on Tilak’s measured aggression. He mixed caution with calculated risks, slog-sweeping Abrar for six and piercing the gaps with crisp back-foot punches. His 41-ball fifty was a testament to his growing maturity on the big stage.
Alongside him, Shivam Dube — who had struggled for timing throughout the tournament — finally found his range. A boundary through extra cover off Rauf gave him confidence, and soon he was clearing the ropes with his long levers, hammering Abrar for a six and punishing Rauf’s misfired yorker with a towering hit over cow corner.
Pakistan’s tactics came under scrutiny as Salman Ali Agha turned to pace after spinners had kept things tight. Once Haris Rauf came on, India plundered runs aplenty. His pace-on approach backfired on a slow surface, with Tilak and Dube feasting on predictable lengths. The over that went for 13 against Dube summed up Pakistan’s missed trick—pace on this wicket was easier to hit, while spin posed the real challenge.
By the time Tilak and Dube were done, India had transformed a precarious position into a platform. Their partnership not only rebuilt the innings but also shifted the momentum decisively, leaving Pakistan ruing another tactical lapse in a high-stakes match.
Dube scored a fine 22-ball 33 before falling while trying to hit a six off the last ball of the 19th over against Pakistan’s best bowler of the night, Faheem Ashraf, who returned impressive figures of 3/29.
It was fitting that Rinku Singh, who came in for the injured Hardik Pandya, hit the winning runs.
Earlier, after being put into bat, Pakistan endured one of their most dramatic implosions in recent memory, crashing from 113/1 in 12.4 overs to 146 all out. Farhan’s fluent fifty had set them up for a formidable score, but India’s spinners — and Bumrah at the death — engineered a ruthless turnaround.
Varun Chakravarthy removed Farhan for 57, sparking a chain reaction. Kuldeep, who was expensive early on, returned brilliantly to dismiss Saim Ayub and later tore through the middle order, finishing with 4/30. Axar Patel chipped in with key strikes, including Mohammad Haris and Hussain Talat, while Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal left Pakistan reeling. From a position of control, Pakistan slumped to 126/4 and then 134/8, undone by reckless strokes and India’s relentless spin choke.
Bumrah applied the finishing touches, nailing his yorkers to remove Haris Rauf and Mohammad Nawaz. Pakistan’s innings ended in 19.1 overs, their final nine wickets tumbling for 33 runs.
What had promised to be a challenging total turned into a modest one, the result of poor shot selection and India’s disciplined bowling. That, in effect, helped India seal the title in the end, their ninth continental triumph.
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