At the Dubai International Cricket Stadium here on Sunday, captain Suryakumar Yadav celebrated his 35th birthday in style by leading India to a decisive 7-wicket victory over Pakistan in a Group A match of the 2025 Men’s T20 Asia Cup. Yadav struck an undefeated 47 off 37 balls.

India easily won with 25 balls remaining after chasing 128; this demonstrated their superiority over Pakistan in every facet of the game.

In the game being played for the first time since heightened diplomatic tensions earlier this year, Suryakumar and Shivam Dube (10 not out) hurried off quickly once the chase was done. This time, there were no handshakes between players.

Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma, both left-handed batsmen who scored 31 apiece, also made quick contributions to India’s simple chase, which enabled them to win the competition for the second time in a row.

For the second consecutive game, India’s spin-heavy approach proved to be the winning one. With scores of 3-18, left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav took the lead, followed by Axar Patel with 2-18. With numbers of 1–24, Varun Chakaravarthy led the trio in limiting Pakistan to 127/9 while playing with impressive control on a slow Dubai pitch.

Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube, two Indian batsmen, left the field after the game without shaking hands with the Pakistani players, as is usual. The Asia Cup match closes in icy silence as Indian players refuse to shake hands with Pakistan.

After the game, India captain Suryakumar Yadav declared, “We want to dedicate today’s victory to the armed forces, and we stand with the victims of the families of the Pahalgam terror attack, and we express our solidarity.”

Suryakumar dedicated the indian military to his seven-wicket victory over Pakistan.

It’s the ideal moment to take a break. We support the victims and their families in the terror incident in Pahalgam. We show our unity. I want to dedicate the victory to all of our courageous military personnel. At the post-match presentation ceremony, Suryakumar made an impromptu statement: “I hope they continue to inspire us all and we give them more reasons on the ground whenever we get an opportunity to put a smile on their face.”

Following straightforward plans was effective, according to Kuldeep Yadav, who was selected Player of the Match for his 3–18 stats. “Just carry out the plans. Simply observe who is batting and adjust your response. I made plans and carried them out. You merely need to adopt that mindset and execute the first delivery, which is always a ball that takes wickets. He’s facing me for the first time, even though the batter is set. I still believe that my bowling needs a lot of improvement. I think I utilize too many variations sometimes.

Brief scores:

Pakistan 127/9 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 40, Shaheen Shah Afridi 33 not out; Kuldeep Yadav 3-18, Axar Patel 2-18)

India 131/3 in 15.5 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 41 not out, Abhishek Sharma 31; Saim Ayub 3-22)