India vs Pakistan Today Match Time, Playing 11, Live Cricket Score, Pitch Report, Squads, Dubai Weather

"Shaheen is obviously an aggressive bowler that will try and knock you over. And Abhishek is not going to hold back. I think, so far, every time these two went head-to-head, we all as cricket supporters and fans are on the edge of our seats and that's great for the game. Yeah, so let's look forward to that on Sunday and enjoy the battle"

Sandip G, The Indian Express' man on the ground in Dubai for the Asia Cup, has this to say about the final today: "The final is the only match that matters in the Asia Cup. This has been a low-quality drag of a tournament, but it doesn't matter that India are unbeaten in the tournament, or they are on a eight-match unbeaten streak, or they comfortably beat Pakistan in the last two meetings; or that Pakistan are schizophrenic, or they are rebuilding, or they are no match, man-to-man, for India's glittering array of T20 personnel."

Ahead of the Asia Cup final, Pakistan cricket team captain Salman Ali Agha found plenty to lament about. He was unhappy with the Indian team, led by his Team India counterpart Suryakumar Yadav, refusing to shake hands with them in both their clashes so far at the ongoing Asia Cup.

Despite Agha's protestations, Yadav and Co are likely to continue their stance for the final today.

“I’ve been playing cricket since 2007 professionally. I’ve never seen no handshakes between two teams. My dad is a huge fan of cricket and used to tell me about its history. He never told me about any game where there’s not been a handshake. I’ve heard it’s never happened before. When India-Pakistan games took place in even more tense situations, handshakes always happened. Not to have handshakes is not good for cricket. If someone wants to be aggressive, whether they’re from my team or their team, I have no issues with that, but you should shake hands at the end of it,” Agha said at his press conference.

Sandip G, The Indian Express' man on the ground in Dubai, has a beautiful tale of two of cricket's most famous Superfans who are divided by borders but united by their love of cricket.

In the ongoing Asia Cup, tempers have frayed between India and Pakistan players on field> Handshakes have been refused, Players have eyeballed each other. Bats have been used as make-believe guns. Plane crashes have been mimicked. But Pakistan superfan Chacha Cricket, whose real name is Chaudhry Abdul Jalil, has been busy pacifying the fans.

“I just tell them, cricket is for love, not for fight… Support your country, respect your opponent. At least, the crowd listens,” he says, with a sardonic peal of laughter.

In the stands, Jalil is often seen with Indian cricket’s own superfan — Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, a wiry man with a bushy moustache, his body painted in the Tricolour and ‘Miss-U Tendulkar 10’ inked on the chest.

On Sunday, when India and Pakistan square off in the Asia Cup final and the antagonism could once again spill onto the field, Jalil and Sudhir would be shaking hands, spreading love and celebrating their two-decade-long brotherhood that has blurred boundaries of all hues.

READ SANDIP G'S PIECE FROM DUBAI

A quick recap of India vs Pakistan clashes at the Asia Cup 2025 tournament, where the two arch-rivals have faced off twice.

India have defeated Pakistan twice so far in the Asia Cup, beating their neighbours by seven wickets in a group stage clash before claiming victory by six wickets in a Super 4 clash, where the Pakistan team tried to turn up the heat on Indian batters with their confrontational attitude.

Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has named the one player that the Indian team should not --- MUST NOT! --- drop from today's XI for the India vs Pakistan final of the Asia Cup: left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh.

“I’ll say this even with my glasses on! Even if you wake me up from deep sleep, my answer won’t change: Arshdeep must play. How many runs will the number 8 batsman make? Not too many, and you don’t need that many. And for the World Cup in six months, work on Arshdeep’s batting, work on Varun Chakravarthy’s batting, Bumrah can already hit a bit, decent bat swing. The batting coach needs to give more time to these guys,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’.

The Asia Cup final between India and Pakistan will see plenty of records up for grabs for players. The finale will see India and Pakistan face off in the summit clash for the first time in tournament history.

For India's batting star Abhishek Sharma, there are plenty of records up for grabs, including those that belong to stalwarts of the game like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

What are these records?

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Pakistan cricket team captain Salman Ali Agha had defended the aggression of his pacers, particularly Haris Rauf, in the previous game against India in Super 4.

“If someone wants to be aggressive on the ground, then why not. If you deprive a fast bowler of their aggression, then what’s left?” Agha said at the pre-final press conference. “Every player knows how to deal with their emotions. I give players license to react the way they want at the ground. As long as they’re not disrespecting anyone and stay within the line, I have no issues with that.”

In the Super 4 game, Haris Rauf had mimicked crashing planes and also held up six fingers (to show 6-0) at the crowd, a dig based on Pakistan Army’s claim that it had shot down India’s fighter jets. Meanwhile, Shaheen Afridi exchanged stares with Indian openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill.

For the third time in the 2025 Asia Cup, we have India taking on Pakistan in a cricket match. The Indian team has already defeated Pakistan twice already, once in the group stage and then in the Super 4. But now comes the all-important finale.

This is the first time in the tournament's history that India and Pakistan are squaring off in the final.

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