Swashbuckling Abhishek Sharma stars as India cruise to T20I victory over Pakistan in feisty Asia Cup clash
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2024/09/16/image-70e52184-1d6b-4d9c-a172-9a13d4a3a1d9-68-310-310.jpeg)
Published 21/09/2025 at 23:00 GMT+1
React to this story
Abhishek Sharma's 74 in 39 balls helped India roll over Pakistan in the Super Four stage of the 2025 Asia Cup. Pakistan produced a better showing with the bat than in their group-stage match against India, but their target of 172 was still chased down with relative ease. Shubman Gill combined for 105 with Sharma in the opening partnership, while Sahibzada Farhan hit 58 for Pakistan.
Judge for yourself - was this out? Huge controversy early in India-Pakistan clash
Video credit: TNT Sports
India notched a comfortable win over Pakistan in an incident-packed Asia Cup Super Four match.
Players did not shake hands again ahead of the match, and there was controversy early on in Pakistan's innings with a contentious dismissal for Fakhar Zaman.
Pakistan set a target that looked competitive, in sharp contrast to the Group A match between the sides when they were skittled for 127.
Zaman’s opening partner Sahibzada Farhan anchored Pakistan’s innings as their only batter to pass 50, while a late and destructive eight-ball cameo from Faheem Ashraf pushed India’s target to 172.
Pakistan faltered in the middle overs, which prevented them pushing on towards 200.
They also failed to strike a meaningful partnership, and a run out for Mohammed Nawaz did not help despite the batters being treated to fielding that Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav described as "butterfingers".
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2025/09/21/image-1e04b514-a646-45da-b4e6-6ec19c36832b-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
Watch 'extraordinary' run out in India-Pakistan clash - 'Not surprised he's shaking his head!'
Video credit: TNT Sports
Pakistan responded with mistakes of their own after taking the field as Shubman Gill was dropped early in the second innings and took full advantage, bringing up India’s 50 within five overs alongside Abhishek Sharma, who was also dropped on 40, and the world champions had reached 105 by the time the first wicket fell.
Faheem managed to remove Gill with a cross-seam delivery in his first over into the attack at the halfway point of the innings, and four balls later, Yadav top-edged Haris Rauf to Abrar Ahmed at third man.
Sharma continued his swashbuckling innings until, after blasting Abrar for six, he was caught in two minds on the next ball and chipped to Rauf, out for 74 from 39 balls.
Sanju Samson also fell but Tilak Varma played a starring role in the closing overs -including hitting the winning runs - slamming Shaheen Afridi for a 92-metre six, then clipping him off his pads for four to seal victory.
Sharma unimpressed by Pakistan behaviour
Sharma now leads the 2025 Asia Cup batting charts with 173 runs from four innings as he and Gill laid the groundwork for India to remain unbeaten in the tournament.
"Today was pretty simple, I think the way they were coming without any reason I did not like at all and I thought this is the only reason I could give with my bat," Sharma said afterwards.
"And obviously with the win that was going through my mind, wanting to deliver for my team.
"We have been playing since our school days [with Gill] so we enjoy each other’s company really well, the way he was giving them back I really enjoyed it on the other side."
Victorious captain Yadav added: "I think they compliment each other really well, it is like a fire and ice combination, the way Abhishek compliments Shubman Gill’s batting is amazing and it is very enjoyable to watch both of them bat together."
Yadav added his blast of ice ahead of the game by refusing to shake the hand of opposition captain Salman Ali Agha at the toss.
For his part, the Pakistan skipper was taking some positives from the game.
"Obviously we are yet to play a perfect game, but we are getting there and I think it was a great game," Salman said.
"We batted really well and I think when it comes to bowling, in the powerplay they took the game away from us. After 10 overs we could have got 10, 15 more runs but 170 is a good total."
Both sides can still qualify for the Asia Cup final - which is decided by the top two teams in the Super Four table that also includes Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - and takes place on September 28.
Watch and stream top cricket action, including the 2025/26 Ashes series and 2025 Asia Cup, live on TNT Sports and discovery+
Advertisement
Advertisement