Abhishek Sharma lit up the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 clash on Sunday with a blazing 39-ball 74, guiding India to a thumping 6-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan. The young opener smashed boundaries at will, leaving Pakistan bowlers with no answers. Tilak Varma kept his cool at the other end and ensured India wrapped up the chase in just 18.5 overs.
Earlier, Pakistan posted 171/5 thanks to a fighting fifty from Sahibzada Farhan. He anchored the innings while Faheem Ashraf and Salman Ali Agha provided late fireworks to push the score to a competitive total. For India, Shivam Dube stood out with the ball, bagging two wickets, while Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya chipped in with one each. However, India fielding was sloppy, with four catches going down — something that didn’t go unnoticed.
After the match, skipper Suryakumar Yadav praised his side fightback but didn’t shy away from addressing the fielding lapses.
“The way the boys are stepping up in every game, it’s making my job easy. They showed great character after the first 10 overs. I told them the game starts after drinks. Bumrah will have his off days — he’s human, not a robot. Dube bailed us out, and Abhishek and Gill are like fire and ice together. As for the dropped catches, our fielding coach has already emailed all the butter-fingered boys,” Suryakumar said with a smile.
Abhishek Sharma too opened up about his explosive knock, admitting that his fiery on-field exchange with Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf actually fired him up even more.
With this win, India once again stamped their dominance over Pakistan in the Asia Cup, thrilling fans with both bat and ball.