Team India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and immediately elected to bowl first against arch-rivals Pakistan in the electrifying final of the Asia Cup 2025 at the iconic Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
This historic clash marks the first-ever Asia Cup final between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, 41 years after the tournament’s inception in 1984. India enters unbeaten, having dismantled Pakistan twice already in this edition—by seven wickets in the group stage and six in the Super Fours—extending their T20I dominance to 11-3.
For Pakistan, it’s a redemption arc after a shaky tournament, buoyed by a gritty 11-run semifinal win over Bangladesh.
Suryakumar Yadav said, “We will bowl first. The surface looks good, and under lights it tends to play even better, so we would prefer to chase today. The pitch looks firm, and the ground staff have done an excellent job, so it should hold up well for the full 40 overs. The occasion does not change anything for us — we just need to focus on playing better cricket. Hardik is unavailable for this match, and Arshdeep and Harshit also miss out. Rinku, Shivam Dube, and Bumrah come into the side.”
Salman Ali Agha, “We are happy to bat first as well. That has been our approach since arriving here. We are still searching for a complete performance, but hopefully today is the day we can put it all together. There are no changes to our lineup — we are going in with the same team.”
India’s Playing XI
Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dubey, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan’s Playing XI
Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Agha Salman (c), Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf
Who will lift the trophy? The chase for glory has begun.
