Pakistan are in early bother of their high-octane Asia Cup 2025 showdown towards India, having misplaced 4 wickets throughout the first 10 overs after opting to bat first on the Dubai Worldwide Stadium on Sunday.
The Inexperienced Shirts’ innings bought off to a disastrous begin when opener Saim Ayub was dismissed on the very first ball of the match. Making an attempt a sq. drive, Ayub solely managed to supply a simple catch to level off Jasprit Bumrah — his second consecutive golden duck within the event.
The early breakthrough set the tone for India’s bowlers, and the strain shortly mounted on Pakistan. Haris, who was named Participant of the Match in Pakistan’s earlier outing towards Oman for his match-winning half-century, failed to duplicate his type. In an effort to tackle Bumrah, he mistimed a pull shot and was caught at deep backward sq., departing after scoring simply 3 runs. Pakistan slumped to six for two.
With the highest order in disarray, Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman tried to regular the innings. The pair added 39 essential runs for the third wicket, briefly halting India’s momentum. Nevertheless, simply because the partnership regarded promising, Zaman fell to left-arm spinner Axar Patel — his bold stroke falling quick as he was caught contained in the circle.
Captain Agha Salman walked in beneath mounting strain and was almost trapped LBW on his first ball. Although he survived that scare, his innings didn’t final for much longer. Struggling to rotate the strike amid a string of dot balls, he was ultimately dismissed, leaving Pakistan 4 down with solely 49 runs on the board on the finish of the tenth over.
Earlier, each groups have opted to retain their profitable combos from their earlier matches, coming into the encounter with momentum on their facet. Defending champions India cruised to a nine-wicket victory over the UAE, whereas Pakistan registered a commanding 93-run win towards Oman.
This marks the primary assembly between the 2 cricketing powerhouses since February and their first Asia Cup face-off for the reason that 2023 version, the place India outclassed Pakistan by a large 228-run margin.
Nevertheless, the stakes go far past the cricketing rivalry this time. That is the primary encounter between the 2 nations since their tense standoff in Could, which introduced the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of battle. With tensions nonetheless simmering, the Dubai Police have introduced stringent safety protocols and strict entry laws for the match.
The occasion’s safety committee has urged followers to cooperate totally with authorities, respect native cultural norms, and cling to the rules in place. “Violations could result in extreme penalties,” a press release from the committee learn.
The stadium is predicted to be packed to capability as followers from each nations end up in giant numbers for one among cricket’s most emotionally charged rivalries.
Pakistan Taking part in XI: Salman Ali Agha (C), Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Sufyan Moqim.
India Taking part in XI: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
