India extended their winning run in the 2025 Asia Cup on Sunday, defeating Pakistan by six wickets with more than an over to spare to collect their fourth victory in as many matches in the ongoing tournament. Opener Abhishek Sharma led the way with a whirlwind 74 off just 39 balls, sharing a 105-run opening partnership with Shubman Gill that laid the foundation for India’s successful chase.
Tilak Varma later chipped in with an unbeaten 30 off just 19 deliveries as the Men in Blue chased down the competitive 172-run target set by Pakistan with six wickets and seven deliveries to spare.
India had earlier chased down a modest 128-run target set by their arch-rivals with seven wickets and more than four overs to spare in their Group A clash at the same venue last week.
The Pakistanis put up a much better performance this time around, thanks to Sahibzada Farhan’s 45-ball 58 as well as a handy 20 not out off 8 deliveries by all-rounder Faheem Ashraf. They were also helped by some sloppy fielding by their opponents, with the Indians putting down as many as three simple catches.
The Indian batters, especially the openers, proved too good for the Pakistani attack once again as they once again underlined their status as outright favourites and continued their dominant march towards a second Asian T20 title.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsKey numbers from India-Pakistan rematch in 2025 Asia Cup
Along the way, there were some records broken and milestones achieved, which we take a look at in greater detail below:
– India have now defeated Pakistan seven consecutive times across formats in completed matches. Incidentally, the last time they had lost to Pakistan in any format was also in the Super 4s stage of the Asia Cup in Dubai, four years ago.
– It’s also the ninth time in the last 10 T20Is between India and Pakistan that the team chasing has emerged triumphant. The only exception during this period, which stretches all the way back to 2014, is their T20 World Cup match in New York last year in which the Men in Blue won a low-scoring thriller by 6 runs.
– Abhishek Sharma became the fastest batter to 50 T20I sixes taking only Full Member nations into account. He achieved the feat in 331 deliveries, 35 fewer than West Indies’ Evin Lewis and 179 fewer than India captain Suryakumar Yadav, the only other Indian in the top-five.
– Abhishek also surpassed his mentor Yuvraj Singh to slam the fastest half-century by an Indian in a T20I against Pakistan. Abhishek brought up his fifty in just 24 deliveries, five fewer than the number of deliveries consumed by ‘Yuvi’ for his fifty during his 36-ball 72 in Ahmedabad in 2012.
– The 105-run stand between Abhishek and Shubman Gill is the only century-plus stand by an Indian opening pair against Pakistan in T20Is, surpassing the 77-run stand between current head coach Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane in Bengaluru in 2012.
– The Abhishek-Gill stand is also the first 100-run partnership for any wicket in the ongoing Asia Cup for any team.
– With his dismissal of opener Fakhar Zaman, Hardik Pandya is yet to go wicketless in a T20I against Pakistan, having collected 15 wickets across 8 innings against the Men in Green.
– Jasprit Bumrah conceded 34 runs in the powerplay in the Super 4s clash against Pakistan, the most he’s ever conceded during this phase in the format. The most he had leaked before this game was the 31 runs that he had conceded against Australia in Melbourne in 2016 – his second T20I appearance.