Abhishek Sharma dropped a catch in the first over to hand Sahibzada Farhan a massive lifeline during the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 clash in Dubai on Sunday. India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl. India made two changes to their playing XI with Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy replacing Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh. India have won all three of their matches in the competition and the last time these two teams met, India defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets. Pakistan also made two changes to their team with Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah missing out.
“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,” Suryakumar Yadav said at the toss.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said that they would have bowled first as well if they won the toss.
“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,” Salman Ali Agha said at the toss.
The two captains did not shake hands with each other once again after the toss. SKY’s decision to not shake hands with Agha during the toss of their group stage match led to a massive controversy. However, SKY repeated the gesture as he walked away just after the toss concluded.
India (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 Chakravarthy.
Pakistan (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.