Asia Cup 2025: India thrash Pakistan by seven wickets in big clash

(Web Desk): India thrashed Pakistan in an important match in Asia Cup 2025. 

Spinners led by Kuldeep Yadav helped India beat 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, who turned 35 on Sunday, 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 a lot of empty seats, and the players from both teams went off without handshakes.

India resisted calls to boycott the match 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.

The conflict was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing – a charge Islamabad denies.

Suryakumar, in the presentation, said India took the match against Pakistan as “just another game” and dedicated the win to the Indian army.

“We stand with the victims of the families of the Pahalgam terror attack and we express our solidarity,” Suryakumar said. “We want to dedicate today’s win to the armed forces.”

Afridi’s cameo in vain -

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.

Kuldeep was named player of the match for the second successive time after he starred in India’s opening win over hosts United Arab Emirates.

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 UAE next on Wednesday and despite the defeat to India are expected to make the next stage.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first against India in their much-anticipated Asia Cup match at the iconic Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.

Clashes between India and Pakistan are always high-voltage encounters, but tensions are particularly intense this time following a four-day military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours earlier this year. Even prior to the May skirmishes, bilateral cricket ties had been suspended, with the two teams now only facing each other in multi-nation tournaments.

India, the defending T20 world champions, enter the match as strong favourites to retain their Asia Cup title. The team has been bolstered by the return of pace ace Jasprit Bumrah and top-order batter Shubman Gill. Their dominance was evident in their previous outing, where they crushed the UAE by nine wickets—bowling them out for just 57 in 13.1 overs and chasing down the target in only 27 balls.

Pakistan, meanwhile, started their campaign with a convincing win over Oman but concerns remain over their batting consistency. The team is without former captains Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, but gained confidence after winning a T20 tri-series in the UAE that included Afghanistan.

All eyes are now on the arch-rivals as they renew one of cricket’s fiercest rivalries.

Playing XIs

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Haris (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem and Abrar Ahmed.

India: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah.