DUBAI: Suryakumar Yadav has brushed aside the talk of rivalry between India and Pakistan after his side’s comprehensive six-wicket win in the Super Fours of the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2025.
India dominated Pakistan and secured their second win over the arch-rivals in the space of a week.
Abhishek Sharma’s ruthless knock was the highlight of the match which steered India to a commanding victory despite their sloppiness in the field during Pakistan’s innings.
After dropping the catches in the field, Abhishek went to score a sublime 74 from 39 balls, laced with five effortless sixes and half a dozen fours.
For Pakistan, Sahibzada Farhan was the lone bright star, scoring 58 off 45 balls.
Suryakumar Yadav addressed a question regarding the India-Pakistan rivalry in the post-match press conference.
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“Standards and rivalry are the same. According to me, if two teams play 15-20 matches and if [head-to-head] it is 7-7 or 8-7, then that is called a rivalry. But 13-0, 10-1….I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore,” he told reporters.
He called the middle overs after the drinks break as the turning point of the match during Pakistan’s innings.
“According to me, the turning point was in the first drinks in the first innings. People changed their body language after that. You always see the game changes generally after the powerplay.
“But today, the game changed after ten overs, when the bowlers changed their line and lengths, understood what was needed in that situation, and showed a little more energy,” he continued.
The skipper praised Indian spinners and highlighted Shivam Dube’s spell, which turned the game on its head.
“The spinners bowled well. And according to me, Shivam Dube’s spell, you can say that it was a turning point,” he concluded.
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