&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Ind vs Pak HIGHLIGHTS, Asia Cup 2025: India crush Pakistan in Group A tie; qualify for Super Fours")
India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2025, HIGHLIGHTS |
Spinners led by Kuldeep Yadav helped India thrash Pakistan by seven wickets in the Asia Cup on Sunday as the neighbours met on the cricket pitch for the first time since a military conflict between them in May. Kuldeep returned figures of 3-18 and along with fellow spinner Axar Patel kept Pakistan down to 127-9 in a key Group A T20 clash in Dubai.
India lost two wickets after a fiery 31 off 13 balls from opener Abhishek Sharma, but skipper Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 47 to achieve the target with 25 balls to spare.
Suryakumar put on 56 runs with left-hander Tilak Varma, who hit 31 before being bowled by Saim Ayub. The captain stood firm and hit the winning six as Indian fans celebrated at a stadium, which had lot of empty seats, and the players from both teams went off without handshakes.
Abhishek came out roaring as he hit Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi for a four and a six and, despite the fall of Shubman Gill in the next over, kept up the charge.
Swashbuckling Abhishek cracked four boundaries and two sixes before he mistimed another attempt for a maximum to be caught at long-off off spinner Ayub.
India's bowlers set up the dominant win as Axar, who took 2-18, and Kuldeep combined to rattle the opposition batting, which suffered from a lack of partnerships.
Hardik Pandya struck in the first over to dismiss opener Ayub for a golden duck and fellow quick Jasprit Bumrah sent back wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Haris for three.
Sahibzada Farhan, who top-scored with 40, attempted to rebuild the innings along with Fakhar Zaman, who made 17, in a partnership of 39.
Axar broke the stand with his left-arm spin as he got Zaman caught out and in his next over had skipper Salman Agha out for three.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep came into the attack and struck twice on successive balls to pack off Hasan Nawaz (5) and Mohammad Nawaz (0) as Pakistan slipped to 64-6 inside 13 overs.
Wickets kept tumbling, but number nine Afridi took on the opposition attack with four sixes in his unbeaten 33 off 16 balls to push the total past 120 and play out Pakistan's full 20 overs.
India, with two wins from two, are nearly through to the next Super Fours stage of the tournament with their final group match against Oman on Friday.
Pakistan play hosts United Arab Emirates next and despite the defeat are expected to make the next stage.
India resisted calls to boycott the T20 clash between the nations, who have not played in any bilateral series since deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008 were blamed on Pakistan militants.
The hostilities in May this year left more than 70 people dead in missile, drone and artillery exchanges, before a ceasefire.
Saim Ayub is doing everything right with the ball in his hand, removing Tilak Varma clean bowled on 31. He picked up his third wicket of the day, with India nearing the target.
Despite losing openers to part-timer Ayub, India maintained an upper hand against Pakistan during the run chase, scoring 61 for two in six overs. India need another 67 runs to win the match.
Saim Ayub is making headlines in Dubai, but for his bowling. The right-arm spinner picked two wickets in his first two overs, removing the openers, Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma. India 42/2 after four overs.
India has lost a wicket inside the second over, with Pakistani opener Saim Ayub accounting for Shubman Gill stumped on 10. India 22 for one in two overs.
Shaheen Shah Afridi's late blitz helped Pakistan revive from early setback as they posted a fighting 127 for nine in 20 overs.
Pakistani batters just cannot stay at the crease against the Indian bowlers, having lost half of their side inside 13 overs, with their scorecard reading 64 for five.
Axar Patel picked up his second wicket of the day, removing Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, caught in the deep on just three. Pakistan's scorecard read 49 for four after the first ten overs.
India has got the big fish in dangerous Fakhar Zaman, with Axar Patel removing him on 17 off 15 balls. The Men in Green are 45 for three in eight overs.
After losing two early wickets inside the first two overs, the Pakistani pair of Fakhar Zaman and Sahibzada Farhan steadied the innings, adding 36 without losing any more wickets inside the Powerplay. Pakistan's scorecard after six overs read 42 for two.
Pakistan got off to a horrific start, losing two batters inside two overs, with India on top. While Hardik Pandya accounted for opener Saim Ayub, Jasprit Bumrah removed keeper batter Mohammad Haris on three.
Pakistan lost their opener Saim Ayub on a second-ball duck to Hardik Pandya, with India taking early strides in the game.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the marquee 2025 Asia Cup tie in Dubai.
Here are the playing XIs -
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy
Pakistan (Playing XI): Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris(w), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya needs just 9 more runs in the match against Pakistan to make history. So far, he has scored 91 runs and taken 13 wickets for India against Pakistan in T20Is. Scoring 9 more runs will make him the first Indian player to score 100 runs and and take 10-plus wickets in T20Is vs Pakistan.
One of the most exciting parts of today’s match will be watching how Abhishek Sharma and Saim Ayub will perform. Both are young players and have the skills to turn the game in their team’s favor.
Abhishek has already shown what he can do at the international level, but Saim Ayub is still looking to make his mark on the big stage.
There is no chance of rain in Dubai today, but it will be very hot. The temperature during the day will be around 39°C, but it might feel like 44°C because of the humidity. It could also get windy, with wind speeds up to 33 km/h.
Pakistan last defeated India in the 2022 Asia Cup Super Four match in Dubai. They won the game by five wickets, with the match going down to the penultimate delivery.
Salman Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Mohammad Wasim Jr.
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Haris (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed.
Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.
As mentioned the match will start at 8:00 PM IST (6:30 PM local time) as India and Pakistan take centre stage at the Dubai International Stadium. The toss will take place at 7:30 PM IST.
Hello and welcome to the Asian Cup 2025 contest between India and Pakistan as the arch-rivals meet in Dubai. The contest will start at 8:00 PM IST with toss taking place at 7:30 PM IST. You can follow all the live updates here.
