Pakistan were no match for India’s wrath in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Ground. Batting first, captain Salman Ali Agha seemed optimistic during the toss, but when it came to on-field action, they seemed to be clueless in the middle. Opener Saim Ayub departed for a duck, and soon after that, Mohammad Haris also went packing.
Notably, Ayub registered back-to-back ducks in the tournament. In Pakistan’s opening game of the tournament against Oman, Ayub registered a duck as well. Haris, on the other hand, who scored a half-century in the previous match, departed for just three runs before Jasprit Bumrah sent him back to the pavilion.
After that, the spinners took over the business, and Pakistan looked clueless in the middle. Star spinner Kuldeep Yadav picked up back-to-back wickets of Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Nawaz, and also, soon after that, picked up the crucial wicket of Sahibzada Farhan, who departed for 40 runs.
Wickets fell like a house of cards for Pakistan throughout the innings. Captain Agha, who spoke about playing an aggressive brand of cricket in the middle, scored three runs off just 12 balls. Towards the end, pacer Shaheen Afridi played a brilliant cameo, which was the highlight of Pakistan’s innings.
Afridi went on to smack an unbeaten 33 runs off 16 balls as the Men in Green posted 127/9 runs in the first innings. India, on the other hand, will be confident about the chase but their approach needs to be monitored as the wicket will assist the spinners in the second innings.
Playing XI of Pakistan and India
Pakistan (Playing XI): Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed
India (Playing 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