Asia Cup 2025, IND vs PAK: Kuldeep Yadav, Tilak Varma win it for Team India

Itrsquos not every day that a team loses its last nine wickets for just 33 runs in a Twenty20 International and still manages to play itself into a position of strengthThatrsquos precisely what Pakistan did at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in a tense final of the Asia Cup before India sealed it in style to clinch the trophy with five wickets in handPut in by Suryakumar Yadav Pakistan got off to a blazing start through form batter Sahibzada Farhan and the experienced Fakhar Zaman and set primed for a grandstand finish when they reached 113 for one after 125 oversPakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan after reaching his halfcentury PicGetty ImagesKuldeep Yadav who didnrsquot have a great start to Sundayrsquos title clash dismissed Saim Ayub the No 3 to a sharp catch at point by Jasprit Bumrah That was the catalyst for a collapse of extraordinary proportions As well as India led by Kuldeeprsquos leftarm wristspin bowled and caught Pakistan must hold themselves responsible for a series of poor strokes that set them crashing to 146 all out with five deliveries left unutilisedWhatever was said at the break worked wonders Having seen India hunt down targets of 128 and 172 with consummate ease earlier in the tournament Pakistan came armed with a definite gameplan that revolved around their newball bowlers taking pace off the ball That ploy paid handsome dividends as Abhishek Sharma the tournamentrsquos leading scorer and skipper Suryakumar Yadav in the middle of a horror run perished to Faheem Ashraf and Haris Rauf respectivelyAbhishek goes earlyAbhishek who had made at least 30 in each of the six preceding matches had set the tone for India with his blazing pyrotechnics His fall off the seventh delivery of the chase triggered nerves for some strange reason in the Indian camp and when Gill followed his opening partner and then his captain to the hut caught trying to club another Ashraf slower ball India were in a deep hole at 20 for three after four oversTilak Varma and Sanju Samson rebuilt cautiously Aware that another wicket would be calamitous especially with India missing the injured Hardik Pandya they took their time while adding 57 but Samson perished to legspinner Abrar Ahmed leaving it to Tilak and Shivam Dube to push the chase forward Tilak unfurled the big strokes when required without taking too many undue risks with 17 coming off Haris Raufrsquos second over and 11 from Abrarrsquos next which left India needing 36 off the last four oversFarhan shinesIn the evening it seemed as if Farhan didnrsquot want to leave the scoring to anyone else as he took command right from the beginning once again targeting Bumrah even as Dube made a steady start with the new ball in Pandyarsquos absence After a couple of exploratory overs Farhan pulled away while Zaman was content to play second fiddle India felt the heat as the runs came far too quickly for their liking until Varun Chakravarthy provided them the breakthrough by having Farhan caught on the boundary off a pullThere was no sign of the mayhem to follow when Zaman and Ayub unhurriedly took the score to 113 when Kuldeep broke through That set the cat among the pigeons as Pakistan imploded sensationallyNineNo of wickets Pakistan lost for just 33 runs They collapsed from 1131 to 146 all outBrief scoresPakistan 146 all out in 191 overs S Farhan 57 F Zaman 46 K Yadav 430 J Bumrah 225 A Patel 226 V Chakravarthy 230 lost to India 1505 in 194 overs T Varma 69 S Dube 33 F Ashraf 329 by five wickets