Asia Cup 2025 final, India vs Pakistan: Tilak Varma's masterclass takes India to title glory in last-over thriller

A brilliantly-paced fifty from Tilak Varma (69* off 53) and his 60-run stand with Shivam Dube (33 off 22) were the highlights in India's chase as they downed Pakistan by five wickets to clinch the 2025 Asia Cup in Dubai on Sunday (September 28). In what was a pulsating last-over finish, India needed 10 off six balls against Haris Rauf who had endured a torrid spell till that point. It also didn't help Pakistan that they had to keep an extra fielder in the ring for slow over rate. Varma, though, needed just three balls to seal the deal.

He miscued the first one but got a brace, then smashed the next for six nonchalantly and calmly struck the next ball to mid-off to level the scores. It meant that Rinku Singh, playing his first game of the tournament, who hit the winning runs with a hoick over mid-on. This was India's ninth Asia Cup title and their first win over Pakistan in a limited-overs final since the 2007 T20 World Cup.

Chasing a slightly under-par target of 147, India were dealt a massive blow in the PowerPlay as the top-three of Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill and skipper Suryakumar Yadav were all sent packing. Pakistan's bowlers came out with a clear plan of attacking the stumps and used a lot of slower balls in the first six overs to reap rewards. Faheem Ashraf's first ball of the game was a lovely widish off-cutter that forced a miscue off Abhishek Sharma's blade, with mid-on taking an easy catch.

Gill and Suryakumar also fell to the slower ball, both batters miscuing the lofted drive to be caught at the edge of the 30-yard circle. For a team that had been getting off to stunning starts all through the tournament, this was a rude awakening in a big game.

Varma, however, looked fluent from the get-go and his 57-run stand with Sanju Samson put India back on track although the latter was dropped with the score reading 42. That partnership calmed the nerves in India's dressing room but Samson's breakthrough got Pakistan right back in the game. That's when Dube joined Varma for a calculative partnership that took the game away from Pakistan at a steady rate.

Neither batter looked rushed in their approach and at times, it seemed like they were leaving it a little too late. However, with timely boundaries and sixes, the partnership steadily got India across the line. Unlike the previous two wins in the tournament, India had to earn this victory by playing out of their skins. Varma survived a run out when the score was 82 and Pakistan obviously will regret these blips.

That said, Salman Ali Agha's side will feel that the result is a fair one, given that they threw away a golden opportunity to post a daunting total on the board. Suryakumar Yadav opted to bowl at the toss and Pakistan started brilliantly through Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman to set up the base for their side. However, Kuldeep Yadav (4-30), Axar Patel (2-26) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2-30) spun a web around Pakistan whose middle-overs batting was shocking to say the least. From a comfortable 113/1, they self-destructed to 146 all out, undoing all the good work done by Farhan and Zaman.

The early battle was won by Farhan and Zaman as Pakistan got to 45/0 in the PowerPlay, thereby ticking a big box in their favour. Farhan in particular looked in top form and once again won his battle against Jasprit Bumrah. India's main strike bowler had a lacklustre new-ball spell where he got hit for a few boundaries and also a six. Even after the field spread, Farhan continued to motor along while Zaman smartly played second fiddle even while hitting the odd boundary himself. It took some brave bowling from Chakaravarthy to break the 84-run opening stand as Farhan holed out to long-on but by then, the opener had done his job.

Zaman, meanwhile, started to up the ante while Saim Ayub also got off the blocks quickly. In the 13th over, with the score at 113/1, Pakistan would have been eyeing a target in excess of 180, if not 185. However, like it happened in the Super Fours fixture, the batting imploded as India's spinners wrecked havoc in the middle overs. With the dry surface allowing the ball to hold a bit, batting in the second half of the innings wasn't going to be easy. Chakaravarthy's bold approach is what got him the big wicket of Zaman and once he fell, the innings crashed.

Kuldeep, who had an expensive start to the evening, picked up three wickets in his final over to derail Pakistan's charge. It was a collapse of epic proportions for Salman Ali Agha's men who couldn't stop the procession of wickets. Eventually, they weren't even able to get past 150 and got bowled out with five deliveries still remaining. That meant a totat that was about 20-25 runs short of a par total but Pakistan put on an exceptional show to drag the game very deep. 

In fact, had they taken the chances of Samson and Varma, who knows what would have? But, that is for another day.