The first inning of the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 match has just concluded, with the defending champions dropping yet another dominant display of their bowling unit. While their arch rivals were expected to be a tougher test than UAE, the story wasn’t exactly much different.
Batting first, Pakistan have been restricted to 127/9.
India opened the innings with two quick wickets. Hardik Pandya sent back Saim Ayub on the first legal delivery of the match. In the following over, Jasprit Bumrah got rid of Mohammed Haris, the top scorer for Pakistan in their last game.
The middle overs were controlled by Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav (who at one point was also on a hattrick). They kept the runs down, and picked wickets at regular intervals.
In the end, however, Pakistan managed to set a total of 127-9, after being 64-6 at one point, which India still shouldn’t find much trouble chasing.
Pakistan Decided To Bat First
Pakistan won the toss and asked India to bowl first. The Men in Blue opted to go with the same playing XI as their previous match, fielding only one specialist pacer in Bumrah (no Arshdeep Singh yet again), while Hardik Pandya supported with the ball.
The spin trio of Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy once again played a key role in controlling the middle overs.
Pakistan, led by Salman Ali Agha, also retained the same lineup that had defeated Oman in their opening Group A match.
Fakhar Zaman and Sahibzada Farhan tried to steady the innings after the early strikes, but Axar’s double blow left the visitors under significant pressure.
Asia Cup 2025: IND vs PAK Playing XIs
India – Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Pakistan – Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris(w), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed.
