The Indian men’s cricket team comfortably beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the Asia Cup 2025 encounter at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
The win keeps India at the top of Group A with two wins in two matches. The Indian cricket team had beaten hosts UAE by nine wickets in their tournament opener earlier this week.
This was the 14th India vs Pakistan encounter in T20I cricket and the Men in Blue’s 10th victory in the format.
The win was brought about by an all-round effort after Suryakumar Yadav, on his 35th birthday, lost the coin toss, but the Indian bowlers restricted Pakistan to a low score, thanks to the spinners.
Chasing 128 to win, the Indian batters made short work of the task and reached their target in just 15.5 overs.
Abhishek Sharma smashed a four and six to get India on their way. Shubman Gill also struck a couple of fours in the second over before being stumped.
His dismissal did little to deter Abhishek Sharma, who continued to play his attacking game as he smashed three fours and a six before being caught after scoring a quickfire 31 off just 13.
After both openers were dismissed, skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma were the two new batters in the middle, with the latter donning the role of aggressor as he scored 13 runs in the sixth over to take India to 61/2 at the end of the powerplay.
With the required run rate under control, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma adopted a measured approach and chose their moments to pick the boundaries.
Tilak Varma departed for a run-a-ball 31 but Suryakumar saw the chase through and finished the game with a maximum. The Indian T20 captain remained unbeaten on 47.
Saim Ayub picked up all three wickets for the Pakistan cricket team on the day.
Earlier in the evening, India rocked the Pakistan top order with two scalps in the first couple of overs.
Hardik Pandya removed Saim Ayub for a golden duck with the first legal delivery of the match as the Pakistani batter’s square drive was caught by Jasprit Bumrah at point.
Jasprit Bumrah then dismissed Mohammad Haris in the next over when the right-hander’s pick-up shot was caught by Pandya at deep-backward square to reduce Pakistan to 6/2.
Bumrah could have had one more a couple of balls later as Fakhar Zaman was adjudged LBW only for the decision to be overturned via DRS.
The reprieve allowed Fakhar Zaman and Sahibzada Farhan to stitch a 39-run stand for the third wicket before India’s spinners weaved their magic to rattle the Pakistani batting line-up.
Axar Patel picked up two wickets in successive overs, first dismissing Fakhar Zaman, whose top edge was caught by Tilak Varma. Another top edge by Pakistan skipper Salman Agha saw Axar Patel claim his second wicket.
Twin strikes by Kuldeep Yadav in the 13th over further reduced Pakistan to 64/6. He first dismissed Hasan Nawaz, who perished attempting a slog sweep and then removed trapped Mohammad Nawaz in front of the stumps.
Kuldeep wasn’t done yet either, removing Pakistan’s top-scorer Sahibzada Farhan, who fell attempting to get a move on and was caught by Pandya at the ropes.
Varun Chakravarthy then got in on the action after trapping Faheem Ashraf in front of the stumps.
Bumrah picked up India’s last wicket in the penultimate over of the innings, while Shaheen Shah Afridi provided some late fireworks for Pakistan to get them to a total of 127/9.
Shaheen, Pakistan’s ace pacer, however, managed to bowl just two overs due to an injury.
The Indian cricket team will face Oman in its final Asia Cup 2025 group game on Friday.
IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2025, Group A match brief scores: Pakistan 127/9 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 40, Kuldeep Yadav 3/18) lost to India 131/3 in 15.5 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 47*, Saim Ayub 3/35) by seven wickets.