IND vs PAK Asia Cup Final: Tilak Varma stars in rescue act to bring Asia Cup home in nail-biter – Action in Images

India are Asia Cup 2025 champions after a real thriller of a final, which went back-and-forth but was decided by a Tilak Varma innings which belied his youth.

Published on: Sep 29, 2025 1:46 AM IST

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Published on Sep 29, 2025 1:46 AM

Pakistan started off on the front-foot, were rocked by a late collapse, started their defence off woth three quick wickets to rock India's batting – but in the end, it didn't matter as Tilak Varma's sensational knock guided India home in the most enthralling of finals in Dubai. (AFP)

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If the toss hasn't already been a topic of conversation, two presenters at the toss – Ravi Shastri speaking to Suryakumar Yadav and Waqar Younis to Salman Agha – indicated that this was going to be a strange, tense match from very early on. (Creimas/Asian Cricket Council)

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Shivam Dube opened the bowling for India in Hardik Pandya's absence, and made an excellent account of himself as he played deputy to Jasprit Bumrah. Varun Chakravarthy was also impressive in his spell, keeping things very nice and tidy right through. (AP)

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Sahibzada Farhan is one of the players who has launched himself onto the big stage with this tournament. He was in devastating touch early on, attacking Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav and putting India's finest to the sword. (AP)

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Kuldeep Yadav was expensive early on in the piece, but his wicket of Saim Ayub in the 13th over completely changed the complexion of the game. (AFP)

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It has been impossible to keep Kuldeep out of games. For the third time in this tournament, he finished a match with four wickets, this time taking three in a single over as he inspired the massive Pakistan collapse. Pakistan slipped from 113/1 to 146 all-out, losing their last 9 wickets for just 33 runs. (AP)

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A taste of his own medicine delivered first-hand to Haris Rauf. After Jasprit Bumrah accounted for him with a yorker, the airplane celebration came out. Two can play at that game, said Bumrah. (AP)

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Disaster for India early in the chase, as Abhishek Sharma finally fell cheaply in this tournament. He was dismissed in the second over, as he tamely toe-ended one which was bowled far away from him. Pressure right back on India. (REUTERS)

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Suryakumar Yadav is given a send-off by Pakistan – and airplane celebration by Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf not hesitating from letting him know. (AP)

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After India dropped to 20/3 upon the dismissal of Shubman Gill, a big rebuilding task was at hand. It was Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson who went about it with some sensible cricket in a 57-run partnership, just to ensure no further damage was caused. (ANI)

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But it was the entry of Shivam Dube that changed the tide and made India the favourites. With a couple of terrific power-strokes, Dube's 33(22) flipped the script — twice now that he has had impact in finals. (AP)

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Rinku Singh ultimately faced one ball in the entire tournament, and it was the tournament's last. Nonchalantly tonked over mid-on to pick up a boundary, and hand India the Asia Cup. (AP)

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In the end, Tilak Varma finished with 69*. It wasn't the most dazzling innings he will ever play, but it might just be his grittiest and bravest: at the age of 22, this felt like a true coming-of-age. (AP)

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It took an hour between the conclusion of the match and the presentation, and even though India opted not to receive the trophy, it was a party atmosphere for the players. Abhishek Sharma was awarded the player of the tournament. (AFP)