🏏T20 Asia Cup 2025: Match 19 - Final: India vs Pakistan @Dubai🏏 - Page 2

Did you know?

- In T20Is since 2024, India have won 34 out of their 37 matches (including three in the Super Over)

- India and Pakistan have faced off in 12 finals across formats, with Pakistan leading 8-4, the last of which was their 180-run win at the Champions Trophy 2017 final.

- India's top seven have been hitting a boundary once every five balls, while Pakistan's have done that once in every eight balls.

Quotes

"It would be wrong to say a Pakistan-India match doesn't carry more pressure. It's the final. There'll be a similar amount of pressure on both sides. The pressure of a final is different, of course."

Pakistan captain Salman Agha

"I don't think, in this tournament so far, we've played a complete game. After every game, there's been discussions about areas we would like to improve and get better. If we start with the batting, can we, in tough conditions, rotate strike a little bit better [...] Can we protect partnerships a little bit, because new batter walking in here, it is quite tough. From a bowling point of view, the talk is specifically about the first six, first 10 overs, how we can improve with our lengths, with our accuracy, our thinking. And in that middle phase, just our over sequence, in terms of bringing in the odd yorker."India bowling coach Morne Morkel

Thank you, Raji, for the thread and for tagging me.

It isn't a cricket match; it's a flow of emotions, a rarely hit boundary-based interesting dialogue! Best wishes to our Team India.

India handily beat Pakistan in a one-sided group match in Asia Cup 2025. It was a straightforward game of cricket, but all the context surrounding it was anything but: no handshakes between the players at the conclusion of the match, as Pakistan were left waiting on the field while India started heading back for the hotel. This incident set the tone: one week later, the teams met again, this time in the Super 4 stage of the same tournament, and plenty had transpired in between.

What India do have going in their favour is that they have the two frontrunners for player of the tournament, and a pair of players who have been heads and shoulders above their fellow cricketers all through this month of cricket. Kuldeep Yadav has been generating magic from his fingertips, turning the ball this way and that, looking almost unplayable, and looking inevitable when it comes to putting his name in the wickets column. With him clogging the runs and taking wickets through the middle overs, no team has truly been able to put India to task: it was once again his impact which allowed India to fight back vs Sri Lanka.

But this is a tournament that has belonged to Abhishek Sharma, as the dashing, dazzling southpaw has announced himself as one of the best T20 batters in the world. 309 runs in this tournament, on a hot-streak of fifties, and scoring at a rate of over 200 in a tournament where runs have been so tough to come by for almost everyone else. India don't live and die without Abhishek, but it's been clear that he is behind all the momentum that their batting can generate. If he keeps his scoring going, he has the capacity to decide this final singlehandedly.

This is the first Asia Cup final between India and Pakistan since the tournament's inception way back in 1984.

- India is undefeated in the tournament, while Pakistan's only two defeats have come against India.

- Pakistan have won the Asia Cup just twice - in 2000 and 2012.

- Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah are likely to be part of India's Playing XI.

Shaheen will want to get Abhishek!

At the moment, it seems almost impossible to bowl to Abhishek Sharma in a way that will prevent him from taking you for boundaries, forget about in a way that can help dismiss him. In fact, throughout this tournament, it has required errors from him to stop him from truly exploding. With that in mind, Pakistan will remember how Abhishek was undone in last year's IPL playoffs: out-swingers from Mitchell Starc, early on, getting him to fend at it and find his off-stump cartwheeling.

Shaheen was once seen as the spiritual successor to Starc in world cricket. Can he channel some of that magic again to cause that kind of impact?

Will Suryakumar's ‘not a rivalry’ quote come back to haunt him?

A bullish Suryakumar Yadav, after India had disposed of Pakistan in the Super 4 match, said that this is not something that can be called a rivalry given India's record against their rivals in the T20I format. It's eye-watering for India: 12 wins, 3 losses. But if there is a team that knows that it is not about winning always, but winning at the right time, it is India: memories of that run in World Cup 2023 will be fresh scars, where the final is where it all went wrong.

But no BCCI representatives expected in Dubai?!!

Naqvi's presence is also somewhat crucial in terms of inter-administration responsibilities because of the expected absence of the BCCI. Reportedly, members of the Indian board chose not to be in attendance for previous matches due to the general sentiment around the match being one of negativity in the group stages, and this is something they don't want to go against for the final. Focus elsewhere, with new president Mithun Manhas announced today.

Batting question marks over skipper Surya

Down the other end, India have a series of questions that they need to answer to ensure they are at their best when the final begins. Prime amongst these is the dubious form of Suryakumar Yadav: while he started the tournament decently, he has gone nowhere since, failing to have any sort of impact throughout the Super 4s. SKY's ability and creativity is unquestionable, but he has just not found the positive, free-flowing starts that allows him to really get into his work. India have won despite his bad form, but they really need their captain to step up just for that extra boost of confidence with their batting.