Analysing top performers for India and Pakistan in Asia Cup 2025 ahead of all-important final

Haris Rauf and Abhishek Sharma - (Source: AFP)

On Sunday, September 28, India and Pakistan will lock horns in the Asia Cup 2025 final at the Dubai International Stadium. For the first time in the tournament's history, the two teams will meet each other in the finals of the continental cup.

India and Pakistan have had contrasting journeys leading up to the final. While the Men in Blue are undefeated and have become the first team to qualify for the finals, the Salman Ali Agha-led side have already suffered two defeats leading up to the final. 

Meanwhile, this article will look at and compare the best batters and bowlers from both nations ahead of the all-important final.

India vs Pakistan: Comparing Best Batters

For India, Abhishek Sharma has been their leading run-getter with 248 runs in five matches. Not only is Abhishek India's leading run-scorer, but the southpaw has scored the most runs in the ongoing edition.

On the contrary, for Pakistan, Sahibzada Farhan has been their best player with just 160 runs in six matches, which speaks volumes about Pakistan's crumbling batting order.

Let's analyse in details the stats of these two players. 

Key Observations

• Abhishek has been on a different level all together as he has set the perfect platform for the Men In Blue, which has been a key difference between him and Sahibzada Farhan.
• Farhan has averaged just 18.24%, while his strike-rate too has been just 107, which tells that he neither managed to play the anchor role well where he would have justified a lower strike-rate by amassing big individual runs, nor he managed to play quickfire cameos.
• In Abhishek's case, the southpaw played both roles that Farhan couldn't. The 25-year-old played big knocks and has averaged 49.60 so far in this tournament. Also, the southpaw has made sure that his strike-rate doesn't take a hit and has managed to bat at double the pace of Sahibzada.
• In Farhan's case, he has only contributed 18.24% to the team's total, while Abhishek has contributed around 35% to the team's total in Asia Cup 2025.

India vs Pakistan: Comparing Best Bowlers

For India, Kuldeep Yadav has been their best bowler with 12 wickets in five matches. Similar to Abhishek, Kuldeep is also the tournament's best player in his department as no other bowler has picked up more wickets than the spin wizard in the ongoing edition.

For the Men in Green, Haris Rauf, who was not in Pakistan's initial plans for Asia Cup 2025, has been their best bowler with 9  wickets in just four matches. 

Let's analyse in details the stats of these two players. 

Key Observations

• Both Kuldeep Yadav and Haris Rauf are bowling well and have similar strike-rate which is more important than the wickets. For Kuldeep, he is picking up a wicket every eighth delivery, while it is almost the same for Rauf.
• However, Rauf has been leaking runs, while Kuldeep has managed to produce a similar performance by keeping his economy rate in check. 

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