Asia Cup: Rinse, Repeat, 3 Peat. Pakistan Beaten, India Are the Champions Again.

2025 Asia Cup: For the third time in as many weeks, India have defeated Pakistan.

2025 Asia Cup: India defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets in the final.

(Photo: BCCI)

The law of averages suggests that outcomes should balance out if repeated often enough over a short span. If you win too frequently, you are bound to lose soon enough.

But India vs Pakistan has turned out to be an anomaly in recent years. For the third time in as many weeks, India have beaten Pakistan. With this, they have secured their eighth consecutive triumph over the neighbours. But more importantly, today’s win earns India their ninth Asia Cup title.

Though they might not have received the trophy yet, which deserves a whole different discourse in itself, the men in blue are the undisputed continental champions. But, was there ever any doubt?

Pakistan's Epic Batting Collapse

Opting to bowl first, India did not quite enjoy the start they would have ideally preferred. The absence of Hardik Pandya — usually effective with the new ball — could have been cited as a factor, had Shivam Dube not stepped up admirably in that role. Instead, Sahibzada Farhan took on Jasprit Bumrah, yet again, and then the spinners.

The opener brought his second consecutive half-century against India, and ultimately accumulated 57 runs before losing his wicket to Varun Chakaravarthy. Pakistan’s score, at that point, read 84/1, and it was followed by a collapse of epic proportions.

The next nine wickets fell for just 62 runs. Fakhar Zaman impressed during his 35-ball 46, but beyond the openers, no batter crossed 15. In fact, Pakistan’s number 3 to number 11 cumulatively accumulated merely 36 runs with the bat.

Spin It to Win It

Kuldeep Yadav spearheaded the assault with four wickets. The tournament’s leading wicket-taker, the left-arm wrist spinner’s tally increased to 17, when no other bowler had taken over 10 wickets.

Mentioning how he bowled with poise and composure even after a poor start with the ball, Yadav stated:

Today, Pakistan had a good start and were like 100/1 after 10 or 11 overs. But we knew that if you get a couple of wickets, then obviously, it's not going to be easy for a new batter to come and score runs easily. And obviously, when I was bowling the 4th over, I was looking to get them out. 

Kuldeep Yadav

Yadav’s partner-in-crime, Varun Chakaravarthy’s wickets column might read only 2, but those were the important wickets of Farhan and Zaman, who combined to score 103 of Pakistan’s 146 runs.

Kuldeep came and finished it. It gave me memories of KKR when we were playing together. And he's always a star. He's one of the best spinners, yeah. Yes, if you see the trend in the last few matches, the first 10 overs, everyone is going berserk. And they don't lose wickets. So, after that, we knew that if we bowl on the right space, and right line of play, we can curtail them down. 

Varun Chakaravarthy

A Mini Collapse, Before Tilak Varma's Rescue Act

With the target being unassuming, it would not have been outlandish to expect a quick and comfortable chase from the Indian side. Except, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Faheem Ashraf were excellent with the new ball, on a pitch that was two-paced.

Abhishek Sharma, the tournament’s leading run-scorer, endured a rare failure, while Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav also departed cheaply. At 20/3, India were under pressure, with the win predictor swinging in Pakistan’s favour for the first time, handing them over 60% chances.

But it was not to be, owing to a couple of partnerships. The first was a 57-run fourth-wicket stand between Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson, while it was followed by a 50-run fifth-wicket stand between Varma and Dube. Pakistan have only themselves to blame, as while Hussain Talat dropped Samson’s catch, Haris could not capitalise on an opportunity to run Varma out.

Varma emerged India’s match-winner. His unbeaten 69 off 53 balls may only be his fourth-highest T20I score, but it was undoubtedly his most significant innings in national colours. Reflecting on the knock, he said:

There was a bit of pressure, but I wanted to stay at the wicket and finish games. They were mixing up the pace. I wanted to just stay calm and finish the game for my country. Credit goes to Dube and Samson as well. Gauti bhai said to be flexible in every position. I was prepared to bat anywhere and I was backing on my game. I was working hard. Especially on wickets that are on the slower side like this. This is one of the best innings of my life. It is really special.

Tilak Varma

Though, at 20/3, Varma might not have been able to steady India’s ship, had it not been for Sanju Samson’s stability. His stay, though brief, resulting in 24 runs, helped build a platform for Shivam Dube.

I really enjoyed the pressure. I haven't played many India Pakistan games, but the pressure was there. I had to use my experience, calm my nerves, watch the ball and react. It came off well today. I had a good partnership with Tilak and really enjoyed playing the game today. The game dictates what type of cricket you need to play. You have to respect the conditions and the situation. That is what we have learned after years and years in the IPL. I was just looking to time the ball, and that is what helped me. 

Sanju Samson

For the umpteenth time in this competition, cricketing brilliance was overshadowed by performative politics, with the Indian players refusing to collect the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, who later took it away himself.

But trophy ceremony or not, India stand tall — nine-time champions of Asia.