The Indian spin trio of Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel made Pakistan batters dance to their tunes in the Indian vs Pakistan match at the T20 Asia Cup 2025. The spinners bowled 13 overs in total, including 12 consecutive ones from the 7th to the 18th.
Pakistan scored just 127 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. But the spinners gave away just 65 runs and took 6 wickets in 13 overs. In the remaining 7 overs, Pakistan scored 62 runs and lost just 3 wickets. The contrast was stark. Had it not been for them, India might have been in slight trouble.
Suryakumar Yadav introduced Varun Chakaravarthy in the 5th over itself. Since Team India had decided to play just one frontline pacer in Jasprit Bumrah, this was bound to happen. But on a spin-friendly pitch, the move was the correct one. Fakhar Zaman took the mystery spin on, but still, only 8 runs came off the over.
Indian spinners choke Pakistan
Kuldeep Yadav was introduced in the 7th over and started off with a frugal 2-run over. Axar Patel bowled his first over next and got the dangerous Fakhar out at long off. Pakistan were already 3 down for 45 runs in 8 overs. At this point, India’s spin trio still had 9 overs in the bank.
The alarm bells were ringing for Pakistan. The ball was stopping a bit on the pitch and turning as well. Suryakumar even gave Abhishek Sharma an over in between, and he too gave away just 5 runs. The runs had completely dried up, and that was clearly having an effect.
In the 10th over, Pakistan’s captain, Salman Ali Agha, got caught at the square leg boundary. Again, it was Axar who worked his magic. In the first 6 overs, Pakistan were 42/2. After the next six, the score read 62/4. Just 20 runs at 3.33 with 2 wickets falling.
Unfortunately for Pakistan, their spin nightmare wasn’t over. In the 13th over, Kuldeep killed the game, which was probably already over. After dropping Hasan Nawaz in his follow-through, he got him caught while attempting to sweep. On the next ball, a perfect googly bamboozled Mohammad Nawaz.
The Decision Review System (DRS) couldn’t save him as India celebrated. On a hat-trick, Kuldeep bowled another googly, but Faheem Ashraf survived it. In the next over, Axar ended his spell with the figures of 4-0-18-2 as Kuldeep and Chakaravarthy continued to pile on the pain.
In his last over, Kuldeep took Sahibzada Farhan’s wicket. The opener had been Pakistan’s best batter of the day, scoring 40 off 44 balls. Chakaravarthy, who had been wicketless until then, got the wicket of Faheem and signed off on an incredible night for Indian spinners.
Indian spinners against Pakistan
| Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Dots | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varun Chakravarthy | 4 | 24 | 1 | 6.00 | 10 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 4 | 18 | 3 | 4.50 | 15 |
| Axar Patel | 4 | 18 | 2 | 4.50 | 15 |
| Abhishek Sharma | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 | 1 |
Editor's Pick
Cricket
How Virat Kohli's 100 in Ranchi resulted in tickets for IND vs SA 3rd ODI getting sold out instantly
Top Stories
