Watch: The Moment Rinku Singh Hit The Winning Runs In Asia Cup 2025 Final

Left-handed batter Tilak Varma rose to the occasion under immense pressure with an unbeaten 69 and guided India to a five-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan to win the Asia Cup for the ninth time at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. On a two-paced pitch, Kuldeep Yadav spearheaded India's stunning turnaround by claiming four wickets, including three in a game-changing 17th over, as Pakistan collapsed from 113/1 to 146 all out in 19.1 overs - losing their last nine wickets for just 33 runs. The crafty troika of Kuldeep, Axar Patel, and Varun Chakravarthy ran riot by sharing eight wickets, as reckless aerial shots led to Pakistan's dramatic slide. Kuldeep, who went from conceding 23 runs in his first two overs to picking four wickets for just seven runs in his next two, was backed by Axar, Chakravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah, who took two wickets apiece.

Rinku ne laga diya ek aur winning shot

India are the champions of Asia

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Coming in with India reeling at 20/3, Tilak delivered an innings of poise and precision under pressure, hitting three fours and four sixes in a knock to be remembered for ages. While others faltered, Varma stood tall by anchoring the chase and delivering a masterclass in timing and temperament.

While stitching partnerships of 57 and 60 with Sanju Samson (24) and Shivam Dube (33), Varma helped India cross the finish line with two balls to spare, signing off from a tournament filled with drama and intensity by winning the trophy as the competition's lone unbeaten team - incidentally, on the same date they had won the trophy in 2018.

In their earlier wins over Pakistan, the openers had carved out a sizeable chunk of the chase. But here, India's chase got off to a rocky start. Faheem Ashraf rolled in a wide slower ball and the in-form Abhishek Sharma miscued it to mid-on. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav was too early on a drive off Shaheen Shah Afridi's slower ball and was caught by a forward-diving mid-off.

Early signs of panic crept in when Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma hesitated over a quick single to mid-on, and a direct hit would have caught the former short. Then, in a bid to get back-to-back boundaries, Gill danced down the track for a flat-batted stroke but mistimed the pull to a leaping mid-on off Ashraf.

Samson began the rebuilding act with a delightful cover drive off Shaheen for four, before Varma punched and smacked Ashraf for a four and six. The duo took a boundary each off Mohammad Nawaz and Haris Rauf, before Samson was dropped on 12 by Hussain Talat at deep mid-wicket.

Varma's calculated risk to release pressure paid off when he bent his back knee to slog-sweep Abrar Ahmed for six, followed by Samson muscling Ayub over long-on for another maximum. But Pakistan struck back, as Samson went for a lofted shot off a wide delivery from Ahmed but sliced it to backward point.

With the required run rate climbing to ten, pressure intensified when a mix-up nearly got Varma run out for 37 - he was saved only because the shoulder of his bat was just grounded in time. India had another pressure release moment when Dube greeted Rauf with a four, before Varma brought out the straight drive and pull to collect a four and six, as 17 runs came off the 15th over.

Dube's long levers came into play when he smacked Ahmed for six, while Varma brought up his fifty off 41 balls. Dube broke a 16-ball boundary drought by smacking a full toss from Rauf over the mid-wicket fence for six, before shuffling across to pull Ashraf for four.

Though Dube holed out to long-off against Ashraf, Varma whacked Rauf for six before Rinku Singh finished off the chase in magnificent style with a boundary over mid-on, sparking jubilant scenes in the Indian camp.

Earlier, despite some swing on offer for Bumrah and Dube, Pakistan came out swinging as Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman took three boundaries in the first three overs. Farhan took on Bumrah by dispatching him for a four and a six, but it was offset by Chakravarthy and Patel offering control, as Pakistan ended the powerplay at 45/0.

Farhan kept the boundaries coming by rocking back to pull Kuldeep for six, before slogging Axar for four. He brought up his fifty in 35 balls. After Farhan lofted Chakravarthy over long-on for six, the spinner bounced back by having the batter hole out to deep mid-wicket for 57, breaking the 84-run opening stand.

Saim Ayub took two easy boundaries off Dube before slicing to backward point off Kuldeep. From there, Pakistan began to lose their way in abysmal fashion: Mohammad Haris chipped straight to mid-off against Axar, while Zaman went for one shot too many and was caught at backward point off Chakravarthy.

Sanju Samson held on to catches of Hussain Talat and Salman Ali Agha off Axar and Kuldeep, respectively. Kuldeep also trapped Shaheen Shah Afridi lbw and had Faheem Ashraf holing out to long-off.

Bumrah returned to uproot Haris Rauf's off stump and had Mohammad Nawaz hole out to deep mid-wicket, ending Pakistan's innings under 150. Though their bowlers kept them in contention, it wasn't enough to stop Varma from taking India home in a final worthy of its high stakes.

Brief Scores: Pakistan: 146 in 19.1 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 57, Fakhar Zaman 46; Kuldeep Yadav 4-30, Jasprit Bumrah 2-25); India: 150/5 in 19.4 overs (Tilak Varma 69*; Shivam Dube 33; Faheem Ashraf 3-29, Shaheen Shah Afridi 1-20); Result: India won by five wicket

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Asia Cup 2025 Rinku Singh Cricket