At the time of this writing, India is facing Pakistan in the Super 4 round of the ACC Asia Cup 2025. This is the second time that these two sides are going up against each other in this tournament.
Suryakumar Yadav won the toss today, and elected to bowl first. This wasn’t as surprising, since the match venue, the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, is the same as that of their previous encounter, which India won while chasing.
Having said that, even if we keep those dynamics aside, there is an intriguing statistic that almost guarantees the Men in Blue a victory in this high-stakes fixture.
IND vs PAK: The chasing side holds advantage
When it comes to India vs Pakistan in cricket’s shortest format, the chasing side has won eight out of the last nine T20Is between India and Pakistan. The only exception to this is their ICC T20 World Cup game in New York last year, which was a low-scoring thriller that the Men in Blue, eventual champions of that World Cup, won.
Even if we consider the ODI format, India has dominated its arch rival in its most recent encounters, the last of which came during the ICC Champions Trophy, also held in Dubai.
Interestingly, it was the chasing side that won that match as well.
India vs Pakistan: Asia Cup Super 4 Playing XI
Here is a look at the players in action today:
IND – Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
PAK – Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris(w), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
For those wondering, India have gone with the same playing XI as their last match against Pakistan, whereas the other side has made a couple of changes, bringing in Haris Rauf and Hussain Talat.
