Finance
Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy excelled with the ball, taking five wickets combined as India defeated Bangladesh by 41 runs to advance to the final of the Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
With India’s victory, Sri Lanka is eliminated from the continental event. Pakistan and Bangladesh will play a virtual knockout on Thursday to determine the second finalist.
Opener Saif Hassan was Bangladesh’s lone warrior, scoring 69 despite being dropped three times, twice in Varun Chakravarthy’s over. In the 1940s, while playing on the ground, Axar Patel dropped him. Later in the next over of Chakravarthy, wicketkeeper Sanju Samson grassed a catch on his own call after Shivam Dubey gave him a second lifeline in the deep square leg.
Apart from Hassan, Parvez Hossain Emon was the other batter with 21, and they formed a 42-run partnership for the second wicket.
Aside from these two, none of the Bangladeshi bats seemed in sync as the Indian spinners dominated the middle overs. Kuldeep 3-18 and Chakravarthy 2–29 teamed to eliminate half of the Bangladeshi side. Jasprit Bumrah, who was pricey in the previous match against Pakistan, made a comeback and took 2-18 in four overs.
Earlier, Abhishek Sharma blazed through India’s batting attempt against Bangladesh, blasting 75 off just 37 balls to help the side record 168/6 in 20 overs.
The left-hander’s onslaught not only propelled India to a quick start, but also surpassed his guru Yuvraj Singh’s record for the most T20I innings by an Indian with five or more sixes.
Abhishek now has six such knocks, trailing only Rohit Sharma (13), and Suryakumar Yadav (9). He also set a new Asia Cup record with 17 sixes in the 2025 edition, the highest in a single event across formats.
Put into bat after stand-in Bangladesh captain Jaker Ali won the toss, India exploded in the powerplay. Shubman Gill got moving quickly before Abhishek switched gears and punished anything loose. He had a slice of luck when Jaker Ali dropped a chance, but he made Bangladesh pay in emphatic fashion. The Indian openers raced to 72/0 in just six overs, firmly in control of proceedings.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, recovered admirably following the Power-play. Shubman Gill went for 29 off 19 right after the fielding limits were lifted, with Rishad Hossain making the breakthrough.
India took a surprise move by sending Shivam Dube at number three to counter the spinners, but the gamble backfired as he went for only two. Suryakumar Yadav then joined Abhishek, and the pair scored a quick 29 off 13 balls before a turning moment occurred. Rishad Hossain performed a wonderful performance of fielding to dismiss Abhishek for a sparkling 75, stalling India’s surge.
The innings then lost direction. Suryakumar Yadav never got his timing and fell for 5 out of 11, while Tilak Varma only managed 5. Hardik Pandya kept things calm with a clinical 38 to help India reach 165, while Axar Patel fought for momentum at the other end, finishing undefeated on 10 off 15.
Despite a fiery start, India were limited to 168/6 from 20 overs, with only 70 runs coming in the last ten. Rishad Hossain was Bangladesh’s standout bowler, with 2/27 and a decisive run-out.
Brief scores:
India 168/6 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 75, Hardik Pandya 38; Rishad Hossain 2-27, Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-29) beat Bangladesh 127 all out in 19.3 overs (Saif Hassan 69, Parvez Hossain Emon 21; Kuldeep Yadav 3-18, Varun Chakravarthy 2-29) by 41 runs.
SourceL IANS
