Middle order batsman Tilak Varma played a sensible knock of 69 runs to guide India to victory over Pakistan in the Asia Cup final on Sunday.
However, another controversy hit Asia Cup when the winning Indian team refused to receive the trophy from the President of the Asian Cricket Council and Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
Consequently, the Asia Cup 2025 trophy distribution ceremony was unusually delayed in Dubai. The standoff continued till the filing of the report.
Pakistan were earlier all out for 146 runs in 19.1 overs in the Asia Cup T20 final against India at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Chasing a modest 147 runs target, India were in early trouble losing three top wickets including the in-form batter Abhishek Sharma with just 20 runs on the board.
However, Tilak Verma and Sanju Samson came together to stage a recovery and set the groundwork for Indian victory.
Sahbizada Farhan top scored with 57 runs and Fakhar Zaman, who opened the innings with him, chalked up 46 runs.
Farhan, the only consistently performing Pakistan batsman, made 57 off 38 balls before getting caught off Varun Chakaravarthy.
Saim Ayub continuing his dismal batting form was out next after scoring 14 runs
After a cheerful opening stand, Pakistanis descended into a familiar middle order fiasco, losing wickets to Indian spinner,
Kuldeep Yadav in particularly unleased his mystery balls, picking 4 Pakistani batsmen for just 30 runs.
Pakistani paceman Haris Rauf’s off-the-mark bowling cost Pakistan dearly in the last overs.
This is the first time that Pakistan has lost an Asia Cup final to India.
After a heartwarming start it was a familiar Pakistani collapse as nine players returned to the pavilion within just 33 runs and set an easy target of 147 runs for India.
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Asim Tanveer is a seasoned journalist working for TV and electronic and print media outlets. He has been working for some of the world’s leading news organizations including Associated Press (AP), Reuters, BBC, CNN, CNBC, Star TV, Voice of America and The New York Times for more than 30 years. He has won several awards for his live coverage of events that include a Reuters News Agency World Award and the Pride of Performance award in 1997.
