Asia Cup: Tilak Varma hits unbeaten 69 as India beat Pakistan for ninth title win

Left-handed batter Tilak Varma rose to the occasion under immense pressure with an unbeaten 69 and guided India to a five-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan to win the Asia Cup for the ninth time at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. 

On a two-paced pitch, Kuldeep Yadav spearheaded India’s stunning turnaround by claiming four wickets, including three scalps in a game-changing 17th over, as Pakistan collapsed from 113/1 to 146 all out in 19.1 overs – losing their last nine wickets for just 33 runs.

The crafty troika of Kuldeep, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy ran riot by sharing eight wickets as reckless aerial shots led to Pakistan’s dramatic slide. Kuldeep, who went from 23 runs in his first two overs to picking four wickets for just seven runs in his next two overs, was backed by Axar, Chakaravarthy and Bumrah taking two wickets apiece.

Coming in with India reeling at 20/3, Tilak delivered an innings of poise and precision under pressure to hit three fours and four sixes in a knock to be remembered for ages. While others faltered, Varma stood tall by anchoring the chase and dished out a masterclass in timing and temperament.

While stitching stands of 57 and 60 with Sanju Samson (24) and Shivam Dube (33), Varma helped India cross the finish line with two balls to spare and sign off from the tournament filled with drama and intensity by winning the trophy as the competition’s lone unbeaten team – incidentally on the day they won the trophy in 2018.

In their earlier wins over Pakistan, the openers had carved out a sizeable chunk of the chase. But here, India’s chase was off to a rocky start as Faheem Ashraf rolled in a wide slower ball and the in-form Abhishek Sharma miscued it to mid-on, while skipper Suryakumar Yadav was too early on a drive off Shaheen Shah Afridi’s slower ball and was caught by forward diving mid-off.

Early signs of panic crept in when Shubman Gill and Tilak Varma hesitated over taking a quick single to mid-on and a direct hit would have had caught the former short. But in a bid to get back-to-back boundaries, Gill danced down the track for a flat-batted stroke, but mistimed the pull to leaping mid-on off Ashraf.

Samson began rebuilding act with a delightful cover drive off Shaheen for four, before Varma punched and smacked Ashraf for a four and six. The duo took a boundary each off Mohammad Nawaz and Haris Rauf, before Samson was dropped on 12 by Hussain Talat at deep mid-wicket.

Varma’s calculated risk to release pressure paid off when he bent his back knee to slog-sweep Abrar Ahmed for six, and was followed by Samson muscling Ayub over long-on for another maximum. But Pakistan struck as Samson went for a loft off a wide ball from Ahmed, but sliced to backward point.

With the required run rate up to ten, pressure intensified when a mix-up almost got Varma run-out for 37 and got saved due to shoulder of his bat being just on ground. India got another pressure release moment when Dube greeted Rauf with a four, before Varma brought out the straight drive and pull to take a four and six, as 17 runs came off 15th over.

Dube’s long levers came into play when he smacked Ahmed for six, even as Varma brought up his fifty off 41 balls. Dube broke 16-ball boundary drought by smacking a full toss from Rauf over the mid-wicket fence for six, before shuffling across to pull Ashraf for four.

Though Dube holed out to long-off against Ashraf, Varma whacked Rauf for six, before Rinku Singh finished off the chase in magnificent style with a boundary over mid-on and spark jubilant scenes in the Indian camp.

Previously, despite some swing on offer for Bumrah and Dube, Pakistan came out swinging as Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman took three boundaries in first three overs. Farhan took on Bumrah by dispatching him for a four and a six, but it was offset by Chakaravarthy and Patel offering control, as Pakistan ended power-play at 45/0.

Farhan kept the boundaries going by rocking back to pull Kuldeep for six, before slogging Axar for four and then brought up his fifty in 35 balls. After Farhan lofted Chakaravarthy over long-on for six, the spinner bounced back by having the batter hole out to deep mid-wicket for 57 and break the 84-run opening stand.

Saim Ayub took two easy boundaries off Dube, before slicing to backward point off Kuldeep. After that, Pakistan began to lose their way in abysmal fashion: - Mohammad Haris chipped straight to mid-off against Axar, while Zaman went for one shot too many and was caught at backward point off Chakaravarthy.

Sanju Samson held on to catches of Hussain Talat and Salman Agha off Axar and Kuldeep respectively, even as the latter trapped Shaheen Shah Afridi lbw and had Faheem Ashraf holing out to long-off.

Bumrah came in to uproot Haris Rauf’s off-stump and had Mohammad Nawaz hole out to deep mid-wicket to end Pakistan’s innings under 150. Though their bowlers kept them in contention, it wasn’t enough to stop Varma from taking India home in a final worthy of its high stakes.

Brief Scores: Pakistan 146 in 19.1 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 57, Fakhar Zaman 46; Kuldeep Yadav 4-30, Jasprit Bumrah 2-25) lost to India 150/5 in 19.4 overs (Tilak Varma 69 not out, Shivam Dube 33; Faheem Ashraf 3-29, Shaheen Shah Afridi 1-20) by five wickets. 

Picture Courtesy: X/BCCI