After Tilak Varma easily defeated Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi in the Super Four match of the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai on September 21 (Sunday), former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar showered the young player with accolades.
Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill quickly dismantled Shaheen Afridi after Pakistan scored 171/5 in their 20 overs, and Tilak then elegantly ended the chase. In the last phase, the Hyderabad left-hander hit Afridi for two fours and a six to win the match for India.
Shaheen Afridi gave up 40 runs in 3.5 overs, suffering yet another difficult performance.
In the group-stage match, the left-arm pacer had also scored 23 runs in two overs. Tilak calmly completed the task for India, remaining undefeated at 30 off 19 deliveries.
In his essay for The Sportstar, Gavaskar stated that another exceptionally brilliant batsman, Tilak Varma, “finally treated Pakistan’s top bowler, Shaheen Afridi, like a net-ball spinner and smashed him around to wrap up a win with deliveries to spare.”
The tone was set by India’s openers, but Tilak finished the chase. Pakistan’s hopes were all but dashed when Abhishek (74 off 39) and Gill (49 off 28) combined for 105 runs in just 9.5 overs.
“After a fantastic opening partnership between Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill that left the Pakistanis speechless and dashed any hopes of winning the game, India easily won,” Gavaskar continued.
Both Afridi and Haris Rauf attempted to sledging the Indian hitters, but their bowling was unable to support their attempts, which made matters worse for Pakistan. Despite being more disciplined than Shaheen Afridi, Rauf was unable to generate any significant pressure despite finishing with 2/26 from four overs.
“I believe they would have won if the game had been about words. However, Harbhajan Singh, a former Indian spinner, stated on Sports Today that India was far ahead of Pakistan in the bat-ball match.
“They went for a lot with their experienced bowlers, such as Haris or Shaheen Shah Afridi. In the first six overs, they failed to take a single wicket. They are the players with the most experience. You can observe the outcomes your seasoned gamers are achieving if they are only yelling and chatting and are unable to produce with the bat or ball.”
Pakistan will now play Sri Lanka on September 22 while India will play Bangladesh on September 24.
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