What Happened When India And Pakistan Last Met In T20 Asia Cup

Aashay Chopade

Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam (Source: @ICC/X.com)Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam (Source: @ICC/X.com)

India and Pakistan are all set to clash against each other for the first time in T20 Asia Cup since 2022. The arsenal of both the teams has changed since then, and now in 2025, India clearly has an upper hand, given their dominance in the recent past.

However, things were different in 2022 as Pakistan were playing good cricket under Babar Azam. India had won the group stage match between the two teams, and Pakistan were itching to return the favour in the Super Four encounter.

Virat Kohli Takes India To Decent Score After Middle Order Stutter

Babar Azam won the toss and decided to chase at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. India, though, got off to a good start with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul both playing aggressively. India crossed the 50-run mark inside the Powerplay, but Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan struck in quick succession to send both the Indian openers back to the hut.

It was then Virat Kohli who took the Indian innings forward with his measured approach as the rest of the batters struggled to get going. Mohammad Nawaz bowled an economical spell and picked up a big wicket of Suryakumar Yadav, while Shadab Khan got two.

Mohammad Nawaz Provides Middle-Over Boost With Handy Cameo

However, riding on Virat Kohli's 60 off 44 balls, India still managed to get to 181, which looked quite decent at the halfway mark. In reply, Pakistan got off to a sedate start in the Powerplay, and Babar Azam fell for 14 against Ravi Bishnoi.

Fakhar Zaman provided decent support to Rizwan but India still had things in control unit Mohammad Nawaz walked out to the middle at number 4 in the ninth over. Rizwan kept the one end going with his busy approach, while Mohammad Nawaz played some crucial boundaries in the middle overs to put Pakistan in a strong position. He scored 42 off 20 balls, and it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who removed him in the 16th over to bring India back in the game.

Pakistan's score was 136 when Mohammad Nawaz lost his wicket and in the next over, Hardik Pandya got rid of well-set Mohammad Rizwan for 71. Thus, India took an upper hand going into the last few overs.

Asif Ali And Khushdil Shah Attack Proves Fatal For India

However, Pakistan still had some power-hitters in their line-up, and the equation came down to Pakistan needing 26 in two overs. The penultimate over was given to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but it backfired as Pakistan got 19 runs from that over with Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah getting some crucial boundaries.

In the last over with only seven needed, Arshdeep Singh tried his best with the wicket of Asif Ali. However, on the penultimate ball of the match, Iftikhar Ahmed took Pakistan over the line and they won the match by five wickets.

India eventually failed to qualify for the final of the 2022 Asia Cup. Pakistan did reach the final, but a young Sri Lankan unit outclassed them and lifted the trophy.