Who Said What? What did Tilak Varma, Salman Agha & Abhishek Sharma say after IND vs PAK, Asia Cup 2025 Final?

India stunned Pakistan by five wickets in the Asia Cup 2025 grand finale on Sunday, September 28, in Dubai to lift the silverware for the record ninth time. 

Moving into the details of the game, Pakistan, after losing the toss, initiated their innings pretty well, but they managed to post a total of only 146 runs in 19.1 overs. Barring openers, other batters failed to live up to expectations.

While the opening batters Sahibzada Farhan (57) and Fakhar Zaman (46) started off well, it was the star Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who turned the game upside down, with a four-wicket haul.

In the chase, India were in all sorts of bother after losing three wickets for 20 runs. Nevertheless, middle-order batters Sanju Samson (24), Shivam Dube (33), and Tilak Varma (69*) propelled their side over the line with a five-wicket win and two balls to spare.

Player of the Tournament, Abhishek Sharma 

Getting a car is always a pleasure. (How has this tournament helped you?) I mean, of course, getting into this team after winning the World Cup, it wasn't easy for any opener. But if you see, we had a plan that we want to play a game, you know, that we have to show intent from the first ball. 

So that was my plan, I worked really hard on that. And if you're playing like this, you need special support from your coach and captain. I think that was the one thing I was getting from them throughout the tournament, before this as well. So obviously, my plan was pretty much clear that, you know, if I do well, if I get that impact, and it's for my team, my team should win. 

Of course, I mean, if you want to play something like this, sometimes you will fail, but you have to keep the process going. And, you know, and that's what I was getting from my team as well. (On adapting to different pitches in the tournament) I mean, if you see that I had a plan, if I get spinners or pacers in the powerplay, I'm going to utilize that powerplay. Because if you see any bowler, even a fast bowler, any of the premium fast bowlers as well, I want to go from the first ball, no matter who's the bowler. And obviously that's going to make me give that impact to the team. And that's what I want to do.

Pakistan captain Salman Agha 

Yeah, it is a tough pill to swallow right now. But I think we did not finish well with the bat. And bowling, I think we were outstanding. We gave everything. But yeah, if we could have finished well, it could have been a different story. 

I think we couldn't rotate the strike properly. And then we, I think, lost too many wickets at times. So I think that was the reason we couldn't score what we wanted. But yeah, we're going to sort out our batting very, very soon. Yeah, yeah, they bowled really well. I think they bowled outstandingly well at one time. 

I think they needed like 63 in 6 overs. I thought we had the game. But yeah, I think the bowlers bowled really well. So we have to give them credit. Very proud. I think we bowled really well. And I'm very proud as a team. And we as a team are very proud. And we have so much to look forward to. And we will continue to improve and we will come back stronger.

Player of the Match Tilak Varma

It was pressure. They were bowling well. They were mixing the pace up. I was breathing and trying to stay calm. Fantastic knock from Samson. The way Dube batted under pressure was helpful and important for the country. We have prepared for every position. You should be flexible. I was prepared to bat at any position. I was backing my game. When the wickets are on the slower side, I have talked to Gauti sir and have worked hard. One of the most special knocks of my life. This is for all the Indians.

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