Pakistan -Skipper Salman Ali Agha admitted that his side’s batting breakdown proved to be crucial in their defeat against India in the ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 final despite what he described as an “excellent” bowling performance.
Only in the bat did the opening sahibit saibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman Pakistan give a flamboyant start by putting together 84 races in front of the halfway brand.
Top-ranked T20i Dej Varun Chakaravarthy gave India their first breakthrough in the 10th. Over by dismissing Farhan, who remained the top scorer with 57 out of 38 deliveries crushing five four and three sixes.
Despite Farhan’s dismissal, Pakistan was in a decent position when they had reached 113/1 in 12.4 overs, before Koldepe Yadav sent left -handed dough Said Ayub (14) back.
His dismissal triggered a match-defining collapse, which saw Pakistan losing their remaining eight wickets to only 33 races in 38 balls and eventually bowled off a lean 146 in 19.1 overs.
When he spoke at the presentation after the match, Pakistan-captain Agha increased their inability to score enough before hinting at a revision in the department.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow right now. We lost wickets while we battled, we were excellent with the ball, but didn’t have enough races on the board,” Agha said.
“We did not rotate strike and lost too many wickets. We have to sort our batting very soon,” he added.
Despite defending a modest total, Pakistan’s bowling unit caused hard yards to chase the total amount as they admitted 19.4 overs and lost five wickets in the process.
Pakistan was especially deadly at the start of the second half, with Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Shah Afridi collectively reduced the men in Blue to 20/3 in four overs by dismissing in form Abhishek Sharma (five), Skipper Suryakumar Yadav (EN) and Shubman Gill (12) Cheply.
Although a Gutsy knock of middle order dough tilak Varma eventually led India to the title victory, Agha his sides bowling attacks to show gravel.
“They bowled out well, they (India) needed 63 from 6 overs, and I thought we had played. But Batting was what cost us the game,” Agha continued.
The Pakistani Captain ended by expressing pride in his team before promising to work hard and making a strong comeback.
“I am very proud of the team and there is so much to look forward to, we will work hard and come back stronger.”
