India clinches Asia Cup title with 5-wicket win over Pakistan

Dubai: India has won cricket’s Asia Cup with a five-wicket victory over archrival Pakistan in Sunday’s final with only two balls remaining.

Put into bat, Pakistan collapsed from 113-1 to 146 all out in 19.1 overs at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

That looked like being enough after defending champion India’s terrible start to its innings, dropping to 20-3 after four overs, including the prized wicket of Abhishek Sharma.

But Tilak Varma (69 not out) and Shivam Dube (33) led the recovery as India reached 150-5 in 19.4 overs.

Pakistan looked in control early on as Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Afridi rattled the Indian batting lineup, dismissing Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Shubman Gill cheaply, dampening the Indian crowd’s spirits in Dubai. However, Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 69 off 53 balls, combined with Dube’s steady support, steered the Men in Blue to a hard-fought victory.

Earlier, Pakistan posted a modest total of 146 runs in 19.1 overs, after a promising start from Sahibzada Farhan (57) and Fakhar Zaman (46). But Kuldeep Yadav’s outstanding bowling performance, taking 4 wickets, triggered a dramatic collapse as Pakistan lost 9 wickets for just 33 runs.

Supported by incisive spells from Jasprit Bumrah (2/25), Varun Chakravarthy (2/30), and Axar Patel (2/26), the Indian bowlers tore through the middle and lower order, leaving only Saim Ayub to reach double figures.