Wasim Akram has shared his take on the ‘favourite’ team for the mega Asia Cup clash between India and Pakistan. The two teams will lock horns in the league stage match of the 2025 Asia Cup on September 14.Ahead of the all-important tie between the arch-rivals, Wasim Akram shared his take and picked the ‘favourite’ to win the fixture. The Pakistan legend Wasim Akram picked India as favourites to win the match.
India and Pakistan will renew their rivalry and lock horns in the league stage match of the 2025 Asia Cup on September 14. As of now, the two teams are only confirmed to lock horns once. But they could end up squaring off once again in the second round and then in the final. India are in form and will be a strong contender to retain the Asia Cup trophy. Pakistan defeated West Indies 2-1 in their previous series.
India and Pakistan, who don’t play bilateral series, have only clashed in ICC and ACC events. However, there were calls for India to boycott playing against Pakistan in these multi-nation events as well, especially after the Pahalgam terrorist incident, where multiple tourists lost their lives to an attack by a Pakistan-based group.
The public sentiment was against any sort of engagement with Pakistan after Operation Sindoor, which the Indian government launched against Pakistan after it conducted a drone attack in May this year. Even the India Champions team refused to play Pakistan twice in the recent World Championship of Legends (WCL 2025) in the UK.
But the Indian team is set to play Pakistan on September 14 in the UAE in the Asia Cup 2025 and might play them twice more if both teams qualify for the next stage of the tournament and the final.Wasim Akram believes that the Indian cricket team will start as favourities in their Asia Cup 2025 encounter against Pakistan. The former Pakistan skipper said that the match on September 14 will be a highly charged affair and the team, who can handle the pressure, will end up emerging victorious.
Wasim Akram picks India as hot favorite to win vs Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025
Wasim Akram believes India will start the 2025 Asia Cup clash against Pakistan as the ‘favorites’, given their recent form, but added the team that ‘handles pressure best’ will have the better chance. He also hopes that players and fans from both sides will not ‘cross the line’ in their patriotism.
The match, scheduled for September 14 in Dubai, would be one of the most emotionally loaded ones for both sides in a long time. It’s the first clash since the Pahalgam terror attack earlier this year, which had culminated in extreme cross-border tensions, including missile and drone attacks, and several losses of lives.
“I am sure these matches will be entertaining, just like all other Ind-Pak matches,” Wasim Akram told Telecom Asia Sport.
“But I hope both the players and the fans will remain disciplined and not cross the line. If Indians are patriotic and want their team to win, the same goes for Pakistani fans. India have been in better form recently and will start as favourites, but the team that handles pressure best on the day will win.”
Until last month, there was a significant chance that the match wouldn’t happen at all. Some reports claimed that the Asia Cup was on the verge of being cancelled after calls to the BCCI were made to cut all ties with Pakistan, including in the multi-national tournaments. However, the tournament was eventually ratified and is now set to go ahead as planned. The BCCI is the official host but the tournament will be played entirely in the UAE.
Recently, the Indian sports ministry put out a release that said that bilateral ties will remain severed but the government won’t prevent the team from playing multi-national tournaments. Akram, nevertheless, wishes that the countries resume playing Test cricket for the fans’ sake.
Legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram wants India and Pakistan to resume playing Test cricket. Speaking ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, where the two countries will be playing T20I matches between themselves, Akram wished that the two countries would play red ball matches against each other.
India and Pakistan last played a Test match when Younis Khan’s team toured India. Sourav Ganguly starred in that series, scoring over 500 runs and helping India to a 1-0 win in the 3-match series. Wasim Akram said that cricket fans all across the world enjoy when India and Pakistan play each other and it would be a historic spectacle when the two countries resume their Test ties.
“This Asia Cup will be a feast for fans worldwide. It’s my wish that India and Pakistan also resume playing a Test series. It’s been too long, and it would be a historic spectacle for fans on both sides,” Wasim Akram told Telecom Asia Sport in an interview.
India and Pakistan do not play bilateral cricket since 2014 due to cross-border tensions between the countries. In 2025, after the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian government heightened its counter-terrorism measures, giving a prompt reply with Operation Sindoor. With relationships still strained between the countries, the Asia Cup fixture found a lot of criticism from fans and experts, who wanted to break ties with Pakistan.
Wasim Akram also stressed that fans must uphold sportsmanship alongside the players. “Fans must also show discipline,” he said, reinforcing the importance of maintaining decorum in such high-voltage matches. India and Pakistan are in Group A with Oman and the UAE. India will play the UAE in their first game of the Asia Cup 2025 on September 10.
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