India square off against Pakistan in the finals of Asia Cup 2025 on Sunday, 28th September. The match is slated to be played at Dubai International Stadium, Dubai and the scheduled start time is 8:00 PM IST. Before this humdinger of a contest, have a look at IND vs PAK team previews, prediction, pitch report, probable playing Xi and match winner prediction.
India Preview
India head into this final clash undefeated, after defeating Sri Lanka in the super over in a high scoring contest that went down the wire, where the Indian bowlers were put under immense pressure by the Sri Lankan batters.
The men in blue have been heavily reliant on their top order to do the bulk of the scoring. Led by Abhishek Sharma, who has amassed 309 runs in 6 matches, averaging 51.50, will be key at the top for India. He has scored 105 runs in 2 matches against Pakistan absolutely bashing their bowling lineup.
In the bowling department, Kuldeep Yadav has been mighty effective scalping 13 wickets in 6 matches, averaging 9.85. Varun Chakravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah have supported him well taking 5 wickets each. India’s bowling has been under scanner in the last two games, especially in the powerplay and death overs, where they have leaked too many runs.
Pakistan Preview
Pakistan after a disappointing start to their super four stages against India, bounced back with two convincing wins over Sri Lanka by 5 wickets and against Bangladesh by 11 runs in a low scoring thriller. They have gained some momentum towards the backend of the tournament and will look to topple India.
Sahibzada Farhan has led the way with the bat for them scoring 160 runs in 6 matches, he has had two good outings against India, scoring 40 plus runs in both the matches. Fakhar Zaman is also in good touch and has scored 135 runs, averaging 27. While Saim Ayub hasn’t been in the best of forms, where he has bagged four ducks.
In the bowling department, Shaheen Afridi has been impactful in the last two matches with the new ball. When he takes wickets early in the innings the entire bowling lineup performs well, which was quite evident in the matches against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
IND vs PAK Probable Playing XI
India – Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Pakistan – Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
IND vs PAK Pitch Report
The pitch at Dubai International Stadium is a balanced track that favors both batsmen and bowlers. The average first innings score in the last 10 matches played here is 155 runs, and the teams bowling first have won five of those games.
Seamers have found success early in the game, but the spinners have been the real game-changers in the middle overs. Their impact has decided the outcome of most matches at Dubai throughout the tournament, making a good start in the powerplay a key to success at this venue.
IND vs PAK Match Winner Prediction
India enter this contest as the favourites to win having defeated Pakistan already twice in the tournament, expect them to come out with a positive intent and topple their opponents for the third consecutive time this tournament and lift the trophy.
Code: TOPBK
