India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup: India take on Pakistan as Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl first in their Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash at the Dubai International stadium September 21.
India made two changes to their playing XI as Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy walked in place of Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana.
What did the captains say at the toss?
India captain Suryakumar, after winning the toss, said:
"We'll bowl first. Looks a nice track and yesterday there was dew. Since first round we were thinking we're playing a knockout tournament, nothing changes. That was a completely different wicket (in Abu Dhabi). Quite normal, just another game. Bumrah and Varun come back for Arshdeep and Harshit."
Meanwhile, Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha, after losing the toss, said:
"Would've bowled first as well. It's a new game, new challenge. The mood is very normal. Pitch looks to be on the slower side. Want to start well with both bat and ball. Two changes. Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah not playing."
India's Playing XI
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
Pakistan's Playing XI
Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris(w), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
Head-to-Head
So far India and Pakistan have locked horns with each other 20 times in Asia Cup tournaments. While India have notched 11 wins, Pakistan have won 6 times. Notably, three matches ended without any result.
Pitch Report
"Just gets easier to bat in the second innings, nothing to do about the surface. It's about the weather. Both captains said they wanted to field first. It has played pretty good throughout the tournament. We have seen scores of 150-160. As the ball gets older, it does grip. Matches have been played here for almost 8-10 days here and it will assist spin. You got to get used to the conditions when you are batting first. Give yourself that extra bit of time to get used to the pace and bounce. Same nature of pitch for Sri Lanka v Bangladesh and 160 wasn't enough. If Pakistan want to make India sweat it will have to be in excess of 180-200 and that's not going to be easy," Sanjay Manjrekar and Ravi Shastri analysed the pitch.
Suryakumar yet again refused to shake hands with Pakistan captain during the toss, following the previous match pattern. Meanwhile, Andy Pycroft will continue to remain match referee for the match despite Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) request to remove him earlier in their clash against United Arab Emirates following no-handshake row in their clash against Men in Blue in the group stage match.