Pakistan suffered a heartbreaking five-wicket defeat at the hands of India in the Asia Cup 2025 final on Sunday (September 28) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Asked to bat first, the Men in Green suffered a miserable collapse from 113/1 to 146 all out in 19.1 overs. Kuldeep Yadav starred with the ball for India, returning with the figures of 4/30 in four overs while Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel picked up two wickets each.

In reply, the Suryakumar Yadav-led side was reduced to 20/3 inside the powerplay. However, Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson bailed the team out of trouble by adding 57 runs for the fourth wicket.

Samson was dismissed for 24, but Tilak (69* off 53) stayed till the end to take his side home with two deliveries to spare. Shivam Dube (33 off 22) also returned with a stunning cameo to put India on the brink of victory, while Rinku Singh (4*) hit the winning boundary.

The Pakistan cricket fraternity was left dejected by the outcome. In fact, their former pacer Mohammad Amir was nearly brought to tears as he reflected on Pakistan's shortcomings in a game they seemingly had under control.

"This is unbelievable. I still can’t understand what exactly happened. After a big part of the game, it felt like the match we lost to India in the 2024 World Cup — like we just gave it away on a plate. We really missed a huge opportunity; we could have won this match," Amir said in a video that has gone viral on social media.

"Our plan wasn’t clear — a new batsman comes in, and instead of settling in, they try to hit immediately. This wasn’t the first match either; it should have been clear by now that in every game, the first ten overs yield runs, but the last ten overs are tricky. Why? Because the ball gets softer, it doesn’t come onto the bat the same way, and it becomes harder for new batsmen. At that stage, only a set batsman can make an impact," he added.

Amit also lavished praise on Tilak Varma’s game awareness during the chase after India’s top three fell cheaply.

"Look at Tilak Verma — his game awareness is incredible. Our guys still have a lot to learn about when to play what shot. Tilak played smart cricket, built partnerships, and took singles when required. That’s how you win matches," he remarked.

India defeated Pakistan in all three games of the Asia Cup 2025. While the title clash went into the last over, India won the group-stage fixture and Super 4 clash rather convincingly by seven wickets and six wickets respectively.

"We could have won this final. As of now, that’s all I can say," Amir concluded.