India ride on Tilak Varma and Pakistan hara kiri, win Asia Cup after hard grind

India eked out a six-wicket victory against a spirited Pakistan to win the Asia Cup 2025 Final in Dubai, claiming the continental tournament for the ninth time.

India had elected to bowl and it seemed like the decision was backfiring as Pakistan batsmen, led by Sahibzada Farhan (57 off 38 balls), took the score to 113/1 in the 13th over. They were going at close to nine an over. But then their batsmen committed hara kiri against the Indian spinners as they succumbed to 146 in 19.1 overs.

None of the lower order batsmen could stay at the crease. Even the skipper Salman Ali Agha was guilty of playing a poor shot. While the Indian spinners continued in good vein, they were lucky as the opposition batsmen weren’t willing to wait for loose balls which came here and there.

Kuldeep Yadav picked 4/30 in four overs to take his tournament tally to 17. Bumrah, not at his best, Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy took two wickets each.

Pakistan bowlers began impressively, scalping Abhishek Sharma early. The dynamic batsman, who had given India great starts throughout the tournament struggled to handle Shaheen Shah Afridi’s bowling despite hitting a four and eventually fell to a slower delivery from Faheem Ashraf.

Suryakumar Yadav followed soon after, getting dismissed by Shaheen Afridi.

Shubman Gill was then removed by Ashraf. All the three batsmen fell to slower deliveries as Pakistani bowlers made great use of that.

However, Tilak Varma scored 69 not out off 53 balls (3x4s, 4x6s) to deny Pakistan. He shared crucial partnerships with Sanju Samson (24 off 21 balls; 2x4s, 1x6) and Shivam Dube (33 off 22 balls; 2x4s, 2x6s).

There was a crucial moment in the match when Pakistan wicketkeeper Mohammed Haris missed a chance to run Varma out. He failed to get his gloves quickly on to the stumps when India still needed 64 runs and Varma was on 37.

But Varma held his nerve and batted brilliantly, maneuvring the ball and when an opportunity came, he hit big shots. Haris Rauf’s second over went for 17 and that turned the match on its head and India barged in and coasted to victory.

Tags : Tilak Varma, Indian cricket, Haris Rauf, Abhishek Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav