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The 2025 Asia Cup concluded with a thrilling finale as arch-rivals India and Pakistan clashed on the ultimate stage of the continental competition for the first time. The Men in Blue emerged winners on the big evening courtesy of an all-round effort by a few key players to win their 9th Asia Cup title and second in the T20I format.
The group stage fixtures were a delight to watch as semi-finalists of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, Afghanistan, failed to even move past the group stage. In the Super Four stage, Sri Lanka choked while Bangladesh didn’t have enough strength in their batting order to test the likes of India and Pakistan, who made it to the final with 6 points and 4 points respectively.
Let’s have a look at how the proceedings rolled out in the final and the crucial Super Four stage, which shaped the story of the 2025 Asia Cup.
First-ever Asia Cup final between India and Pakistan
The emotions were running high at a packed stadium in Dubai where the fans witnessed the arch-rivals, India and Pakistan, clash for the third consecutive Sunday in September. Gautam Gambhir and Mike Hesson have had their share of success and learnings throughout the tournament, but it boiled down to the big occasion, as it often does in multi-lateral tournaments.
Asked to bat first, Pakistan’s opening batters dealt with the pressure well as Sahibzada Farhan’s third half-century of the tournament helped the Shaheens race to a score of 77/0 in 9 overs. Varun Chakravarthy’s dismissal of Farhan triggered a collapse as Hesson’s men went from 84/0 to 144 all out with no middle-order batter standing up and taking the responsibility when it mattered the most.
The Men in Blue had their own ideas of a brisk run-chase, which were soon dashed by Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Afridi as Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Suryakumar Yadav were back in the hunt inside the first 24 balls, with the scoreboard reading 20/3 after four overs.
Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson assessed the situation and controlled their nerves to stitch a crucial partnership of 57 runs in 50 balls to set a base for the next batter to exploit. After Samson’s untimely dismissal, Shivam Dube stepped up along with Varma to build a partnership of 60 runs off 40 balls, which left India with the task of making 10 runs off the last over.
Dube, who came of age in the absence of Hardik Pandya, scored 33 runs off 22 balls before holing out at long-off, while Rinku Singh scored the winning runs while facing his first ball of the tournament. Tilak’s innings of 69 runs off 53 balls kept the ship steady and moving throughout the run-chase as the southpaw stamped his place in the storied Indian cricket folklore.
After India won the final, the post-match presentation was delayed for more than an hour as the Pakistan contingent refused to come out of their changing rooms. The drama continued to ensue as the Men in Blue refused to accept the trophy from Pakistan Cricket Board chief and Asian Cricket Council chairman, Mohsin Naqvi.
Super Four Stage
After an enthralling group stage, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh qualified for the Super Four stage of the 2025 Asia Cup.
Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh
In the first match of the second round of the continental competition, Bangladesh stunned Sri Lanka to boost their hopes of qualifying for the final. After being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka did decently well as Dasun Shanka’s innings of 64 runs off 37 balls helped them put 168 runs on the board. Saif Hassan and Towhid Hridoy scored half-centuries in the run chase to ensure there are no hiccups for the Asian Tigers, who got over the line in spite of good spells from Wanindu Hasaranga and Shanaka.
India vs Pakistan
On September 21, India and Pakistan clashed once again, and the Shaheens got off to a good start in the powerplay overs but were once again choked by the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy in the middle overs.
After putting 171 runs on the board courtesy of a Sahibzada Farhan half-century, Salman Agha’s men had the worst possible start to the second innings as Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill stitched together a century partnership in less than 10 overs, which proved to be too much for Pakistan as Tilak Varma finished the game off with 7 balls spare.
After the handshake row in the group stage, this match was also marred by controversies as fast bowler Haris Rauf and opening batter Sahibzada, along with Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav, were sanctioned by the ICC for their unsporting gestures on the field of play.
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
After the disappointment against India, Pakistan bounced back against Sri Lanka as the ever-reliable Lankan top order was sunk by Shaheen Afridi and Rauf. A half-century from Kamindu Mendis helped them post a respectable score for the opposition to chase.
Chasing a target of 134 runs, Pakistan found themselves in a spot of bother after Maheesh Theekshana and Hasaranga took two wickets each, but a partnership between Hussain Talat and Mohammad Nawaz saw their team over the line.
India vs Bangladesh
The clash between India and Bangladesh started off on a predictable note as Abhishek was firing on all cylinders and helped the Men in Blue reach a score of 72/0 by the end of the powerplay overs. Rishad Hossain’s brilliant spell and the run-out of Abhishek were crucial for Bangladesh to restrict India to 168/6 in the first innings.
Saif yet again scored a brisk half-century, but the absence of skipper Litton Das hurt the Tigers as Kuldeep, Chakravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah tightened the noose around their batting order. India won by 41 runs, setting up a knockout match between Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Pakistan vs Bangladesh
Asked to bat first on a slowish surface, the Shaheens’ top order once again failed to hit the gas, and the lower order had to ensure yet again that the team posts a respectable total. Mohammad Haris, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Nawaz, and Faheem Ashraf had to bail them out after the team was at 49/5 after 10.5 overs.
Chasing a target of 136 runs, the Bangla Tigers collapsed badly for the second consecutive day as the absence of Litton hurt them yet again, with Shamim Hossain top scoring with an innings of 30 runs off 25 balls. Afridi and Haris Rauf picked 3 wickets each while Saim Ayub dismissed Nurul Hasan and stand-in skipper Jaker Ali, to seal the 11-run win.
India vs Sri Lanka
With India already into the final and Sri Lanka’s elimination confirmed, the two nations played the dead rubber fixture as the Men in Blue rested Bumrah and Dube to give Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana a run with the ball in hand.
Batting first, India once again got off to a fast start as Abhishek’s innings of 61 runs off 31 balls, while Tilak and Sanju Samson built a partnership of 66 runs off 41 balls. Axar Patel’s finishing touches helped India put 200+ runs on the board for the first time in the tournament.
Chasing 203 runs, Sri Lanka got a fast start of their own as Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera (58 off 32) stitched a partnership of 127 runs off 68 balls. After Perera’s dismissal, Nissanka held one end and scored the first century of the tournament before losing his wicket in the last over of the run chase.
While Kuldeep and Varun were on song yet again, Arshdeep Singh was the difference in the clutch overs as India snatched the match from Sri Lanka and somehow took it to the Super Over.
In the Super Over, Arshdeep conceded only 2 runs, and the Indian skipper Suryakumar chased the target of 3 runs on the first ball, remaining unbeaten throughout the 2025 Asia Cup.
