India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 Final: Tilak’s salute, Dubey’s cameo & Kuldeep’s spin seal India’s thrilling title win.
India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 Final: Tilak Varma's undefeated 69 off 53, marked by a classic army salute upon reaching his half-century, propelled India to a nail-biting 5-wicket victory against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India needed to chase 147. India battled past initial setbacks to claim a victory for the ages.
India’s chase began shakily as Abhishek Sharma fell for 5 to Faheem Ashraf and captain Suryakumar Yadav departed for 1 off Shaheen Afridi’s bowling. Shubman Gill added 12 before being dismissed at 20-3, leaving India in trouble early in the innings.
In the wake of the early losses, Tilak Varma played a stabilizing innings with maturity and aggression, scoring 69* with 3 fours and 4 sixes. His knock kept India in the hunt and motivated the chase, with Sanju Samson (24) and Shivam Dube (33) providing vital support. Rinku Singh was unbeaten on 4 as India reached the target 2 balls in hand.
India's bowlers laid the foundation by limiting Pakistan to 146-10 in 19.1 overs. Kuldeep Yadav was the find, taking 4 wickets for 30 runs, and Varun Chakaravarthy took 2 while Jasprit Bumrah chipped in with 2 crucial dismissals. Axar Patel also contributed 2 wickets, reducing Pakistan's middle and lower order to nothing under pressure.
Pakistan's batting was led by Sahibzada Farhan, with 57 runs, and Fakhar Zaman with 46 runs. Though they began confidently, Pakistan's line-up were unable to survive India's spin attack and kept losing wickets at a steady frequency.
