There often are silver linings for teams after defeats, but Pakistan had none last Sunday when they were crushed by India.
There often are silver linings for teams after defeats, but Pakistan had none last Sunday when they were crushed by India in a lopsided contest that their bitter rivals dominated from the very first ball.
It was the first proper examination of this Pakistan side in transition, which has vowed to be more dynamic with the bat and replaced their reliable, yet slow, run accumulators with feisty players yet to establish themselves at the apex level, based on the promise that they showed in the Pakistan Super League.
And, as expected, they crashed.
India, after all, are transforming into the greatest T20 team that the world has ever seen. Since their T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados last summer, India have won 20 out of 23 T20Is. They have had a transition of their own, and they swiftly moved on from some of the greatest white-ball cricketers in Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja. They destroyed every team that came in their way in the last T20 World Cup, winning all matches.
Pakistan’s journey in the last T20 World Cup was limited to the group stage as defeats to the USA and India knocked them out of the tournament. Since then, they have stuttered. Pakistan have won and lost 15 matches each.
Sunday’s was Pakistan’s third consecutive defeat to India in the format. The last time they defeated them in the format was in September 2022 in an Asia Cup Super Fours contest. It was the last time Pakistan had defeated India in any format, which underscores a gulf between these two sides that continues to widen.
It is not the competitiveness of the two sets of players that sells India v Pakistan anymore, but the geopolitical tensions and historic rivalry between these two countries. With Pakistan, however, there is always an outside chance, and many will rely on the ever-mercurial side to stun India.
This is the first Super Four match for both sides. Pakistan are here after comfortable wins over Oman and UAE. India were the first team from Group ‘A’ to secure a berth in this round after dominating wins over UAE, Pakistan, and Oman.
All four teams in this round will play each other once, and the top two teams will make it to the final next Sunday. That leaves the possibility of India and Pakistan playing each other for three consecutive Sundays open.
The two, however, have never faced off in the final of the Asia Cup ever.
Pakistan’s batting crisis
The current set-up promised to lace their batting with aggression and smartness and it came good on it in the first series played under the duo of captain Salman Ali Agha and coach Mike Hesson, as Pakistan scored at 10.44 runs an over across three T20Is against Bangladesh in Lahore towards the end of May.
But, since then, it has largely been a struggle for the batters.
Pakistan, in this Asia Cup, have averaged a modest 16.44, and their strike rate has remained a paltry 113.53. The numbers make for a grim reading in a format that is essentially won by outscoring the opposition, and they are the worst among the teams that have made it to the Super Four. Even Afghanistan, who crashed out of the tournament after losing to Sri Lanka in the final group B match, had a better strike rate and average than Pakistan.
Graph by Dawn
Pakistan have been timid with the bat. They had 63 dot balls against India and managed only seven runs between overs seven to 10, losing two wickets. Against a much weaker and lower-ranked UAE, they played 24 dots in the powerplay.
That their bowlers had something to bowl at in both the matches was because of Shaheen Shah Afridi. The fast bowler made a 16-ball 33 not out against India and resuscitated his side with a 14-ball 29 not out against UAE to drag them to 146-9.
He has scored the fourth-most runs (64 at a strike rate of 206) for Pakistan in this tournament and hit six sixes. No other Pakistan batter has hit more than three, and his strike rate is the best among his teammates.
It speaks volumes about the challenges Pakistan faces.
Amidst the batting failures, however, their bowling has been delivering quietly, with the spinners doing the heavy lifting and it was because of them that Pakistan came out scratch-less in their last group match against UAE.
Pakistan bowlers have had the best average and economy rate in the group-stage as they took 20 wickets. Thirteen of them went to the spinners.
Graph by Dawn
Since the start of this year, Pakistan bowlers have taken 147 wickets in 25 matches, which is the most for a full-member nation. They have averaged 20.85 runs per wicket and bowled at 7.87 runs per over. Their spinners have taken 74 of those 147 wickets and the average and economy numbers get better when the filter is restricted to them as they go to 19.33 and 7.07.
India’s sheer domination
India are in the process of developing the greatest T20 empire. They have dominated oppositions in this T20 World Cup cycle and the best batting and bowling averages among the full-members since 30 June 2024.
There is no chink in their armour, and they seem to be operating on autopilot. The young batters coming through are more dominating and aggressive than their predecessors and they have one of the most versatile bowling attacks.
Their combinations are provided further depth by the presence of all-rounders, both fast and spin bowling, who can not only bowl in any phase of the innings, but can also be floated around the batting order.
They have a staggering difference of 12.40 between the batting and bowling average in this T20 World Cup cycle. The second best, New Zealand, is almost five runs behind.
The following is a table of men’s teams’ batting and bowling averages since June 30, 2024, till September 19, 2025.
Graph by Dawn
Pakistan’s opening woes
He is in the side for his batting, but the number of wickets he has taken in the tournament are more than the number of balls he has faced. Saim Ayub is yet to make his first run in the Asia Cup as he enters this match with two consecutive first-ball ducks and a two-ball duck before them. But, he has taken six wickets, the most that a Pakistani has in this tournament. All three Indian wickets that fell last Sunday went in his column.
But it is his runs that would bring actual happiness to the Pakistan captain and head coach. Saim’s ODI and Test centuries in South Africa and a 98 not out in a T20I there promised Pakistan much-needed stability at the top of the order. But, since his return from the ankle injury, the left-hander has been a shadow of what he was late last year.
He is considered a batter worth investing in because of his strong technique and ability to score runs at a rapid rate. But since his 69 against the UAE in Sharjah in the tri-series, Saim’s six outings have produced scores of 0, 11, 17, 0, 0, and 0.
His batting partner, Sahibzada Farhan, came into the side after a terrific PSL this year and scored three 50-plus scores in his first six innings across Lahore, Mirpur, and Florida. But he has struggled on the UAE surfaces as he averages only 17.12 in eight matches here, which also includes contests against UAE and Oman.
His highest score on the UAE tour has been a 44-ball 40 against India, and he has made only 74 runs in the Asia Cup at a miserable strike rate of 87.
It was in Mirpur ahead of the third and final T20I that Pakistan brought Saim and Farhan together once again, and they have since opened in every match. They made 82 in 7.5 overs in that match and put up a 138-run stand three matches later against West Indies in the USA.
Since that century stand, however, the most that they have put together is 28, and the longest that their partnership has lasted is only 2.5 overs. In the eight matches since that century stand, their partnership has gone into two figures on only one more occasion.
Pakistan had preferred Saim and Farhan over the only opening pair to have made more than 2,000 runs in the history of the format – 2,522 at 46.70 to be precise – for this tournament.
It is time they repay the faith.
