India walk into the Asia Cup final with two convincing wins over Pakistan already in the bag. Pakistan managed a ticket for the final with something rarer: momentum salvaged when things looked shaky.
Strip away the noise about handshakes, hearings and history, and tonight looks like a test of temperament — how each side copes with the first six overs and just as crucially, the last five.
Start with the Powerplay: India have often sprinted to 50 inside five overs, with opening batter Abhishek Sharma throwing punches early and Shubman Gill timing his strokes. That cushion has spared a middle order that hasn’t always been fluent.
Pakistan know the calculation: If Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf don’t crack India’s top two in the first 18 balls, they’re left chasing angles for the next dozen overs.
Shaheen looks closer to his old self — tailing the ball in, hitting the deck hard, and finding wickets in the first over. Rauf, sometimes criticised in the longer format, is better suited to T20 bursts: one over in the Powerplay, another around the 12th, just to jolt rhythm.
If Pakistan can take out one opener and push Suryakumar Yadav’s entry into the spinners’ stretch, they tilt the tempo their way.
ICC warns Indian cricketer Suryakumar to steer clear of politics after Pakistan complaint
Flip it around, and India’s start with Jasprit Bumrah is all about control. He doesn’t always blast doors open; more often he keeps them locked. His 18-for-2 the other night showed how quickly he can put a chase on hold.
That sets up the Kuldeep–Varun combination to operate without chasing wickets. Dot balls early, and Pakistan’s middle order is forced to gamble against turn.
The closing overs bring a different kind of strain. India have generally finished better — either because they’re ahead by the 15th over, or by nailing their yorker-and-slower-ball routines.
When they slip, it’s often around the 17th, when a chase suddenly breathes again. Pakistan have lived the reverse: scraping to par scores, then defending them by clamping the final five overs.
Shaheen tends to return clear-eyed, Rauf unleashes the bouncer, and a third option — maybe Abrar or a seamer — cleans up the margins.
Selection calls feed into that temperament test. India are likely to bring back Bumrah and Shivam Dube after a rest. Dube didn’t click in his last tactical move but still offers a seam option and reach at the finish.
Pakistan, settled for three games now, look likely to stick. Captain Salman Agha put it plainly: don’t muzzle the quicks — let them impose themselves, as long as they don’t cross the line.
And then there are the small things that finals often swing on: a relay throw cut off cleanly, a sharp take at 130 kph, running the first hard to stretch singles into twos.
Bangladesh crash out after batting collapse hands Pakistan Asia Cup final spot
India’s fielding against Bangladesh was patchy; they can’t afford repeats. Pakistan’s calling has been jittery; one misjudged single in Dubai can flip momentum.
Yes, match-ups matter — Abhishek vs Shaheen, Kuldeep vs Fakhar, Abrar vs Tilak. But finals tend to punish panic and reward clarity. The side that breathes through the Powerplay and keeps its nerve in the last five overs will be the one lifting the cup.