The cricketing world is set for a blockbuster after Pakistan secured its seat in the Asia Cup 2025 final against India for September 28th in the UAE. Pakistan defeated Bangladesh in a must-win match by 11 runs on Thursday of the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup, defending the target of 136 to win in a winner-takes-all match.
Bangladesh’s batting collapsed dramatically in front of Pakistan’s pace-boiling attack led by Shaheen Shah, Harish Rauf, and Saim Ayub.
Pakistan had a struggling start to the Asia Cup. Meanwhile, India has already defeated Pakistan twice in the ongoing edition of the tournament. Now cruising into the final, the current Pakistani team is confident of lifting the Asia Cup 2025 trophy.
These two fierce rivals have met numerous times in the Asia Cup over the years, but never have both teams made it to the finals together, and the fact alone makes this showdown nothing short of historic. The previous two encounters of Pakistan and India in the Asia Cup 2025 were already marked by the diplomatic and military tensions ongoing between the two countries.
It has taken more than 40 years but we finally have it: a first India-Pakistan Asia Cup final 🏆 pic.twitter.com/T2vOiRfURQ
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 26, 2025
The recent military escalation between Pakistan and India unfolded into a drama on the field with the handshake refusal during the toss and the Indian team straight walking up to the dressing room after winning the first match, in a blunt defiance of sporting norms of meeting the rival team post-match. Following this disgraceful snub, Pakistani skipper Salman Ali Agha refused to show up for the post-match ceremony. In the same match, in a post-match ceremony speech, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav dedicated the win to the Pahalgam attack victims and to the Indian Armed Forces.
Drama continued off the field as Later on, when talking about the Pakistan-India match, he claimed that Pakistan-India are no longer rivals in the cricketing field, attributing it to the recent dominance of the Indian side over Pakistan.
“According to me, if two teams have to play 15-20 matches, and if there’s a 7-all or someone is ahead 8-7, then it’s called playing good cricket, and it’s called rivalry. 13-0, 10-1, I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore,” Surya had said last Sunday.
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A day later, Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi had responded, “That’s his view, let him say. When we meet (in the final), we will see kya hai, kya nahi. Tab dekh lenge [what’s there what’s not, we will see then]. We are here to win the Asia Cup, and we will give our best effort for that.”
Emotions on both sides ran high, as the Pakistani player Haris Rauf was caught on camera responding to the trolling from Indian spectators with the signs of jets and planes going down, referring to Pakistan downing Indian jets during an aerial dogfight in May 2025.
Skipper Salman Ali Agha is hopeful of winning the match and says his men know what the final demands.
If you can win matches like these, then you truly are a special team,” the skipper said. “The way our bowlers stuck to their plans and the commitment shown in the field made all the difference.”
“We are fully aware of what the final demands are,” he said. “We’re prepared,” says Agha in his statement.
From GVS South Asia Desk