Cricket: Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Yadav lead India to Asia Cup title defence in thrilling final against Pakistan
India hold their nerve in tense Asia Cup final
The 2025 Asia Cup has now been decided and India have once again clinched the trophy, marking their ninth title in 16 appearances in the competition and confirming our cricket predictions.
Tensions between both sets of players were high from the outset as both sides opted once again to forego the customary handshakes at the toss, which Suryakumar Yadav won and chose to bowl.
Pakistan made an impressive start with the bat, with openers Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman putting together a solid 84-run partnership for the first wicket, and at 113/2, the Shaheens looked to be on course to post a big target.
However, Kuldeep Yadav stepped up in a big way for the champions, and after knocking over Saim Ayub, Pakistan’s middle order had no answer to India’s spin-trio, including Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel.
Pakistan’s batting order from four through 11 added a mere 22 runs combined to their tally, with captain Salman Ali Agha top-scoring with eight, while Mohammad Haris, Shaheen Afridi and Faheem Ashraf were all dismissed without troubling the scoring.
While Pakistan’s total of 146 ultimately proved too low to defend, the Green Shirts produced a remarkable effort, with Faheem Ahraf and Afridi knocking over India’s top-three batsmen for just 17 runs combined.
However, at 20/3, Tilak Varma strode to the middle for the Blue Shirts and delivered a masterful 69 off 53 deliveries, while Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube played important supporting roles, scoring 24 and 33, respectively, as India clinched the title with just two balls to spare.
What’s next for India and Pakistan
With the Asia Cup now heading back home to India, the Men in Blue will not have too much of time to bask in the brilliance of their title run, as their attention will swiftly shift from the shortest to the longest format of the game.
Shubman Gill’s side are set to face the West Indies in a two-match Test series, which gets underway at the Narendra Modi Stadium on October 2, while they are also scheduled to head Down Under for three ODIs and five T20Is against Australia from October 19 to November 8.
As for Pakistan, they will have around three weeks to lick their wounds and recuperate before playing host to South Africa in two Test matches, three T20Is and three ODIs between October 12 and November 8.
