In the grand finale of Asia Cup 2025, India will square off against arch-rivals Pakistan to see which team is the best in Asia for this edition. This is the first time in the history of the tournament that the arch rivals are contesting for the trophy in a summit clash. In the last 41 years and 17 editions, we have not had a India-Pakistan clash. But in this one, it will be the third meeting between the two neighbouring giants and all their matches have been played on a Sunday.
India are the only unbeaten side having beaten their arch-rivals twice this tournament which includes a win in Group stage and Super 4s. But India are vulnerable which Sri Lanka exposed in their last match as India should have lost that game but somehow managed to win by a super over. India might be the unbeaten side but they have chinks in their armour and Pakistan could exploit that come the big day. Pakistan have played against the other sides and know that all it takes is to have a good day and they could win the Asia Cup for the 3rd time ever and first since 2012.
Overview
8-time champions India no doubt will come into this clash as favourites but must guard against complacency and injury concerns if they are to overcome the Pakistan challenge. Pakistan has nothing to lose being the underdogs and everything to gain. They have gotten better as the tournament has gone on especially their bowling which is firing in all cylinders ready to derail the Indians. India have all bases covered but have a few issues to address as well.
India are coming into this game on the back of a thrilling Super Over win over Sri Lanka as the Men in Blue remained unbeaten by the skin of their teeths. India made two changes to their XI resting Jasprit Bumrah and Shivam Dube and giving game time to Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh. Put into bat first, India rode on another Abhishek Sharma masterclass as he scored 61 off 31 balls and was ably supported by Tilak Varma who scored an unbeaten 49 and Sanju Samson who made a useful 38 to help India get past 200-run mark as they made 202/5 on a good batting track.
But their bowling without Bumrah stood exposed. Hardik Pandya picked up the early wicket of Kusal Mendis but then walked off the field with a hamstring niggle and that exposed the Indians as Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh were taken to the cleaners. Pathum Nissanka was brilliant for his 107 while Kusal Perera was great for his 58. The duo shared a 127-run stand for the second wicket and practically shut the door on India. Even spinners were taken to the cleaners.
But India came roaring back with Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy picking up crucial wickets before Arshdeep Singh stepped up in the death overs. The middle order of Sri Lanka collapsed while Nissanka fell in the last over, Dasun Shanaka’s 22* off 11 balls took the game to the Super Over. In the Super Over, Arshdeep held his nerve and showed his class restricting Sri Lanka to 2/2 while Suryakumar Yadav came and got 3 runs off the first ball. India will be battling injury concerns and complacency ahead of this big clash.
Pakistan, on the other hand, faced a direct must-win clash against Bangladesh. Put into bat first, Pakistan failed miserably with the bat initially with the openers Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman getting out early while Saim Ayub bagged his 4th duck of the tournament. All the Pakistani batters struggled and it was due to Mohammad Haris’ important 31, Mohammad Nawaz’s 25, Shaheen Afridi’s 19, and Faheem Ashraf’s unbeaten 14 that Pakistan scrambled their way to 135/8 in 20 overs and were aided by dropped catches by Bangladesh.
Pakistan bowling came through in the second innings with Shaheen Afridi leading from the front with 3 wickets to his name while Haris Rauf picked up 3 wickets as well. Saim Ayub who has now become a spin bowling all-rounder chipped in with 2/16 in 4 overs as Pakistan restricted Bangladesh to 124/9 to win that game by 11 runs and advance to this summit clash. Pakistan believe they can beat any side and so, India must stay watchful and alert and not take the Men in Green likely.
The stage is set for an epic face-off and the team that plays better on the night will win. What’s happened earlier in the tournament is history. It’s all about who plays better on the night. Will India win their record 9th Asia Cup crown or will Pakistan silence India and win their 3rd Asia Cup title? Only time will tell.
Head-To-Head
The Head-To-Head favours India totally. They have met on 15 occasions with India winning 12 off them and Pakistan 3. In this Asia Cup, India have beaten Pakistan both the times. But Pakistan’s 3 wins against India have come while chasing and 2 of those were in Dubai in 2021 and 2022. So, history suggests Pakistan to have a batter chance at winning by chasing.
Pitch & Weather Report
The pitch in Dubai suits the spinner more than pacers. The pacers may get lateral movement early on but the spinners come into play especially in the middle overs. Batters have to apply themselves in and if they do that they can get runs. The recent India-Sri Lanka game was played on a good pitch, but the final pitch could be different. Dew isn’t that much of a factor now but teams will prefer to chase in Dubai although last few matches have gone the other way. A score of 160-170 batting first on the big day will be great.
The weather in Dubai will be hot and humid during the day. At night, it will cool down a touch providing relief for the players and everyone involved. But the players of both teams by now are used to this weather and being professionals means they will be up for it. There is no chance of rain whatsoever and so we will be in for a full night’s play.
Predicted/Probable Playing XIS of both sides
Here, we will predict the playing XIs of both sides for the summit clash.
India XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Pakistan XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
Key Players to watch out for in this clash:
Abhishek Sharma: Abhishek Sharma has been the standout performer for India in Asia Cup 2025. In fact, he is the leading run-getter in this tournament with 309 runs. He has scored a hat-trick of 50s after scoring a hat-trick of 30s initially. Yes, the law of averages may catch up with him and he may miss out on the final. But he will be the go to player for India and the Men in Blue will be looking up to Abhishek again to give the team a flying start as that helps India a lot.
Kuldeep Yadav: Kuldeep Yadav has been the man for India with ball in hand in the middle overs. So, far he has scalped 13 wickets in the tournament and will be hungry for more in the summit clash. He has picked up at least one wicket every game and will be determined to do well against Pakistan. Against Sri Lanka, he may have picked up only one wicket but he stemmed the flow of runs and brought India back in the game. He will be key trump card for Suryakumar Yadav in the final.
Sahibzada Farhan: Pakistan’s best batter in terms of runs this tournament, Sahibzada Farhan will be expected to give the team a head-start in the powerplay. Pakistan are dependent on Farhan to give the team a solid start as in the games he has gotten out early, the team has struggled. He scored a valuable half-century against India in the Super 4 game and that could act as a reference point for the young right-hander to go out there and perform for his side. He will be the key as he is a bit better form than Fakhar Zaman.
Shaheen Afridi: Shaheen Afridi the batter was on song throughout with cameos and now the bowler is finding his feet and got into the groove. Shaheen got back to his best with the ball against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi where he struck with the new ball and removed both openers to finish with 3 wickets. In the must-win game against Bangladesh in Dubai, Afridi stole the show getting wickets with the new ball and in the end getting 3 wickets. He got the Player of the Match award. Looking ahead to the summit clash, Afridi will be expected to get early wickets with new ball and remove Abhishek early and if he does that, then the Men in Green could walk away with the silverware.
Fun Fact ahead of this big final
India and Pakistan have met in 5 tournament finals before this one and it is the Men in Green Pakistan who hold the advantage with a 3-2 lead. The last final between these two sides in a multi-nation event was the 2017 Champions Trophy final which Pakistan won by thrashing the Men in Blue by 150 runs. India would like to forget that defeat and set the record straight on Sunday night.
Possible/Predicted Outcome of the Match
It is the finale of Asia Cup 2025 and whoever plays better on the night will prevail. It comes down to who holds the nerves better and who fields better and catches under pressure shall win. India has dropped 12 catches this tournament while Pakistan have been the best as far as catch efficiency goes. It should be a cracker. But taking all things into consideration, we reckon India start as favourites, but Pakistan will not be pushovers by any means. India must not be complacent.
So, the stage is set in Dubai on 28th September 2025 at 8 PM IST as all roads lead to Dubai for this summit clash. Let’s see which team comes home with the silverware in the end.
Also Read: Asia Cup 2025: India Clinch A Thrilling Super Over After Match Ends In A Tie