New Delhi : Former international umpire Anil Chaudhary believes India are a cut above the rest in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. "I had predicted that India would play Sri Lanka in the finals. The way India is playing, there's a huge gap between India and the other teams," Chaudhary said, reflecting on India's strong form in the tournament. However, he pointed out the unpredictable nature of the shortest format.
"T20 is such a game that it's better not to predict too much. Sometimes, even two or three players can change the match. Sometimes individual performances can change the course of the game," he explained.
India have dominated their opponents in this ongoing Asia Cup so far, as they started their campaign by humiliating the UAE, and then they dominated their arch-rivals Pakistan, and after that, in their final Group A encounter, they defeated Oman.
India thrashed Pakistan for the second time in this tournament in their first Super Fours game on Sunday; now their next challenge will be Bangladesh on Wednesday in Dubai. During the match, India won the toss and elected to field first. After Pakistan lost Fakhar Zaman, a quickfire 72-run stand followed between Sahibzada Farhan (58 in 45 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Saim Ayub (21 in 17 balls, with a four and six) put Pakistan ahead. Later, knocks from Mohammed Nawaz (21 in 19 balls, with a four and six) and Faheem Ashraf (20* in eight balls, with a four and two sixes) took Pakistan to 171/5 in 20 overs.
Shivam Dube (2/33) was the pick of the bowlers for India, while Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya got one each.
During the run-chase of 172, Abhishek Sharma (74 in 39 balls, with six fours and five sixes) and Shubman Gill (47 in 28 balls, with eight fours) took Pakistan out of the game in the first ten overs. While Haris Rauf (2/26) tried to fight it out for Pakistan, Tilak Varma (30* in 19 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Hardik (7*) took India to a win with seven balls left. Abhishek secured the 'Player of the Match' award for his explosive knock.