As the curtain fell on the Asia Cup in Dubai, Pakistan once again fell short against India. On the papers, it looked straightforward: India champions, Pakistan runners-up.
But this tournament wasn’t about cricket only. The 2025 Asia Cup was as much about drama, politics, and behaviour as it was about the runs and wickets tallied across its three weeks. For Pakistan, it became a campaign of fight-backs mixed with frailty, of fresh promise overshadowed by old shortcomings, and of a squad missing the focus on cricket and finding themselves drawn into a script they never wrote.
Pakistan’s campaign began against Oman on a warm evening in Dubai. It was a contest as one-sided as the format allows. Mohammad Haris, batting with command, struck a fluent 66 that scattered the Omani bowling. Pakistan’s bowling attack was far too good. Oman was bowled out for just 67, and Pakistan’s 93-run win gave their tournament the kind of emphatic launch that fuels optimism. But as often happens with Pakistan, the high was followed by a sobering crash.
Against India in their next outing, the gap in class was exposed. However, the match will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, as India sowed the seeds of unprecedented politicisation of sports by being discourteous to their opponents.
Coming back to cricket against India, Pakistan’s batting order, often accused of inconsistency and rightly so, was shattered by Kuldeep Yadav’s craft and a disciplined Indian pace unit. Wickets fell in clusters, momentum stalled, and Pakistan crawled to 127 for 9 in their 20 overs. Shaheen, better known for his left-arm thunderbolts with the ball, turned defiant with the bat, hitting a brisk 33 to give the total some respect. When India started their chase, the outcome already felt certain. Abhishek Sharma tore into the bowling, his 31 off just 13 balls setting the tone for a chase that was wrapped up with clinical ease. For Pakistan, it was not just a defeat but a reminder that their game plan, their composure, and their batting spine still had a long way to go against an opposition of the highest caliber.
The final group match against the UAE carried its own pressures. Pakistan were expected to win comfortably, but cricket rarely bends easily to expectation. Early wickets left the top order unsettled, and once again there were anxious faces in the dugout. Fakhar Zaman, however, found a way to attack. His half-century was not the finest of his career, but it was exactly what the situation demanded. Shaheen, developing a reputation for lower-order hitting, added a much-needed 23 from 10 balls that dragged Pakistan to 146. With the ball, Pakistan’s usual discipline returned. Shaheen struck early, Abrar tied down the middle overs, and Pakistan closed out a 41-run win. It was efficient, if not spectacular, but it was enough to ensure progress to the Super Fours.
Then came another meeting with India, now in the super four stage of the tournament. This time, Pakistan batted with more intent. Sahibzada Farhan’s half-century was calm, measured, and exactly the kind of innings Pakistan have long wanted at the top. His half-century was followed by small contributions from Saim Ayub, Mohammad Nawaz, and Faheem Ashraf.
A total of 171 felt competitive under the lights. Yet India’s chase was packed with assurance. Abhishek Sharma once again dismantled Pakistan’s bowling attack, this time with 74, which made the chase a breeze. Pakistan’s bowlers looked flat, and though Haris and Saim fought, they didn’t get the results the team wanted. In the end, India crossed the line with overs to spare, and Pakistan were again left staring at the familiar gulf between fight and finish.
Even in defeat to India, Pakistan scraped through to the final. They had seen off Sri Lanka and Bangladesh with efficiency, in an entertaining Super Four phase, and secured their place in the title clash. That in itself was a measure of progress for a side still in transition. Yet, the final was never destined to be remembered purely for its cricket.
On the field, the match was tense. Pakistan bowled with intensity, India batted with calculation, and the contest swayed in phases before India closed it out. But around the cricket swirled an atmosphere heavy with politics. Indian players refused to shake hands with Pakistani players before and after the game, for the third time in the tournament, they also demanded a separate presenter to speak with the Indian captain.
At the presentation ceremony, the refusal to acknowledge ACC President Mohsin Naqvi, solely because he is Pakistani reduced a sporting event to political drama. In post-match press conferences, political undertones crept into the answers, pulling the game into a space it should never have entered. The behaviour was neither accidental nor subtle. It was deliberate and carefully scripted. For Pakistan, it was frustrating. Their players had tried to compete in the spirit of the sport, yet were pushed into a narrative of exclusion.
For context, many within Pakistan noted that their own players’ reaction during the Super Four stage match on the 21st was not also spontaneous, but in fact a response to the disregard and provocation shown on September 14th earlier in the tournament, when the first signs of hostility appeared. That side of the story, however, found little mention outside their borders.
Pakistan left the tournament still battling with their inconsistencies. Sahibzada Farhan was their leading scorer, steady at the top, but too often he stood alone. Fakhar produced one important innings, Haris shone once before fading, and Captain Salman Agha struggled to assert himself, with fans now calling for his removal. In the middle order, there was little reliability, and against top-class spin, the side’s fragility was obvious. Their batting lacked not just runs but also game awareness.
Their bowling, once their greatest asset, was steady without being dominant. Shaheen was tireless, striking with the new ball and chipping in with cameos with the bat. Abrar Ahmed offered control; however, the bowling attack, as a whole, lacked variety. On those pitches in Dubai, they looked predictable, and against India’s high-octane batting, this predictability, and often brainlessness, was punished. The absence of a dependable fifth bowler was felt keenly. Pakistan’s best hope has always been to suffocate opposition through relentless bowling pressure. Here, against their toughest rival, that strategy looked ineffective.
Yet there were positives too. Shaheen continued to show the class expected of him. The team reached the final, an achievement not to be dismissed lightly. Against lesser sides, they showed they could dominate. Against India, they did not go down without putting up a fierce fight.
However, this Asia Cup will not be remembered solely for India winning but not lifting the trophy. It will be remembered for what surrounded the cricket: the avoided handshakes, the politicised gestures, the sense that the spirit of sport was compromised by agendas outside its boundary ropes.
For Pakistan, there are two lessons. On one hand, they must strengthen their cricket develop a batting that can withstand pressure and understand game awareness, add depth to their bowling, and learn to close out big matches. On the other hand, they must find the resilience to hold their dignity when sport is dragged into political theatre. They cannot control the behaviour of others, but they can control their response.
Pakistan’s Asia Cup campaign of 2025 was of mixed feelings. There were patches of brilliance, but not enough; progress, but no achievements; fight, but no finish.
The numbers, Farhan’s runs, Shaheen’s wickets, margins of victory and defeat tell just one side of the story. The larger story is the team still learning how to win the big games, still searching for a settled identity, still trying to find the composure that separates the good from the great.
Faizan Lakhani is deputy sports editor at Geo News. He posts on X faizanlakhani
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