Pakistan secured their spot in the Asia Cup 2025 final after prevailing over Bangladesh by 11 runs in a nailbiting low-scoring thriller at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday, allowing them to face bitter rivals India for the first time in an Asia Cup final.

Bangladesh, led by stand-in skipper Jaker Ali, chose to bowl first. The Bangladesh bowlers were outstanding, restricting Pakistan to 135/8. Taskin Ahmed finished with 3/28, while leg-spinner Rishad Hossain took a commendable 2/18. Pakistan’s batting struggled, losing wickets regularly. Sahibzada Farhan fell in the first over, and Saim Ayub recorded his fourth duck in six innings. Fakhar Zaman scored 13 before departing, and Hussain Talat was soon out. Mohammad Haris (31 off 23) and Mohammad Nawaz (25 off 15) added some runs, while Shaheen Shah Afridi contributed 19, hitting the first six of the innings before falling to Taskin.

Bangladesh’s chase began poorly as Shaheen Afridi struck in the opening over to remove Parvez Hossain Emon and then dismissed Towhid Hridoy. Saif Hassan counterattacked with 18 off 15 but fell to Haris Rauf, triggering a collapse. Shamim Hossain (30 off 25) tried to stabilize the innings, but wickets continued to fall. Saim Ayub picked up two important wickets, including captain Jaker Ali. Haris Rauf dismissed Tanzim Sakib and Taskin Ahmed in quick succession, while Shaheen Afridi claimed a three-wicket haul. Bangladesh’s lower order fought hard, with Rishad Hossain scoring 16 off 11, but they eventually fell short, finishing on 124/9.

PAK vs BAN: Who Said What?

Shaheen Shah Afridi (Player of the Match):

"I will dedicate this award to my beautiful wife and son who are here. You need early breakthroughs. Those three overs made the difference in the powerplay. I was working on the slower ball. It came out well in the main time. Team decided I will go with Nawaz and Faheem behind me. I got two sixes and that gave us the momentum."

See Also: WATCH: Saim Ayub’s batting woes continue with fourth duck in Asia Cup 2025 PAK vs BAN Super 4 clash

Salman Agha (Pakistan Captain):

"If you win these kind of games, then we must be a special team. Everyone played really well. There is some improvement needed in batting. But we will work on that. Shaheen is a special player. He does what the team needs of him. Very happy for him. We were 15 runs short. The way we bowled up front, we will create pressure. We bowled well with the new ball. More often that not you will games if you bowl like this. We have been fielding well. Shane has been working hard on us. We have been having extra sessions. Mike Hesson said if you cant field, you wont be in the team. We are a good enough team to beat anyone. We will come back on Sunday and try and do that."

Jaker Ali (Bangladesh Captain):

"As a batting unit, last two games we lost it. We did good work with the bowling unit. Yesterday also the batting cost us the game. I tried to take those chances. I tried to adjust to the captaincy. Our bowlers Rishad and then Said with the bat. Unfortunately, we didn't support Saif much."

India secured their place in the final of the Asia Cup 2025 with a 41-run win against Bangladesh on Wednesday in Dubai. They remained unbeaten in the tournament and confirmed their supreme championship form with bat and ball. Abhishek Sharma starred once more at the top, and the bowlers made sure Bangladesh's chase never take off.

Opting to bowl first, Bangladesh made the bold call of putting India in, but openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill took full advantage of the powerplay. The duo added 77 runs in just over six overs, with Abhishek smashing 75 off 37 balls.Even though the middle order struggled in the middle overs, Hardik Pandya's gradual and steady 38 off 29 deliveries helped India to 168/6 in 20 overs, which was a match-winning total.

Bangladesh stumbled early in the chase, losing Tanzid Hasan cheaply to Jasprit Bumrah early. Saif Hassan gave the innings hope with a fighting 69, but India’s spinners, particularly Kuldeep Yadav with 3/18, took apart their middle order. Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel added crucial breakthroughs, while Bumrah finished with 2/18 to wrap up the innings at 127 in 19.3 overs. The result confirmed India as the first team in the final, while Bangladesh now face Pakistan in a must-win clash.

IND vs BAN: Who Said What ?

Abhishek Sharma (Player of the Match):

"I got the job done for my team, I have told before also, I go with the flow. When it's in my range, I go after the first ball as well and try to get the powerplay for my team. In a few matches, I wanted to go for the first ball because they wanted to get a wicket. This was a fresh wicket, I wanted to have a look, so me and Shubman decided to have a look and then go. I always wanted to go with the field, I always see the field and then go for my shots. I want to play according to the field. I have done a lot of work in the practice sessions, that is a time when the batter gets to play a lot of balls. When you play too many shots in the net, you can get out but I practice and try to not to get out in the nets."

See Also: T20 Asia Cup defending champions Sri Lanka eliminated from Asia Cup 2025

Suryakumar Yadav (India Captain):

"We didn't get to bat first in this tournament, I think we batted first against Oman but we wanted to bat first in the Super Fours and see how it goes. Looking at their bowling lineup, they had a left arm-spinner and leg spinner, I think Dube was perfect for that occasion in that 7-15 overs range. If the outfield would have been really fast, it would have been 180-185 but with the bowling lineups we have, if we bowl 12-14 good overs, we will win on most occasions."

Jaker Ali (Bangladesh Captain):

"It's quite surprising, but I take the preparation. All the credit goes to the boys, after ten overs they adjusted brilliantly. We can take lots of things from this game, we have another game tomorrow. We have to keep in mind that we can win tomorrow and play the final. Let's see what kind of combination we are going to go but we will give our best."

While the Bangladesh cricket team has recently achieved some great successes in the T20I format, the 27-year-old cricketer Jaker Ali has made a bold comment regarding the nation's expectations for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. 

The United Arab Emirates will host the Asia Cup 2025 between September 9 and 28, 2025, which will be played in the T20I format. Eight teams will participate in the competition, while Bangladesh are in Group B along with Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong. 

We are going to the Asia Cup with the goal of becoming champions: Jaker Ali

While Bangladesh have finished runners-up in three Asia Cup editions (2012, 2016, and 2018), including one in the T20I format during its inaugural edition in 2016, the Tigers are desperately waiting for their first Asia Cup title. Bangladesh cricketer Jaker Ali is confident about the team's success in the upcoming edition, as they have the confident goal to win the tournament. 

Jaker Ali said in the press conference, “Of course. This time we are going to the Asia Cup with the goal of becoming champions. Personally, I can say that I am going there only to win the championship. And everyone in the dressing room also believes it. Especially with the environment we have right now and the kind of effort everyone is putting in, we all believe that this time we will go to become champions.”

Recently, Bangladesh won a three-match T20I series against the hosts Sri Lanka by 2-1, and then they claimed another home T20I series against Pakistan, which they won by 2-1 in the three-match series. Just like the other Asian Test-playing nations, the Asia Cup 2025 is very important for Bangladesh as preparation for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, which India and Sri Lanka will host next February-March.

See Also: BCCI has decided to conduct a Press Conference to announce Asia Cup 2025 squad

There’s no chance of taking things lightly: Jaker Ali

Bangladesh are in the tough group in the Asia Cup 2025, and they aren't taking any team lightly, as none of the teams can afford a hiccup in the tight group stage. 

Ali added, "There’s no chance of taking things lightly. Our mindset is that our plan will remain the same — the way we usually play our brand of cricket, we’ll play the same way against any team. So we’ll prepare in that manner to ensure we can deliver a good performance."

Bangladesh will start their Asia Cup 2025 journey with the match against Hong Kong on September 11. They will later face Sri Lanka and Afghanistan on September 13 and 16, respectively. The top two teams of the group will advance to the Super Four. Before the Asia Cup 2025, Bangladesh will play a three-match home T20I series against the Netherlands, starting on August 30. 

Bangladesh won a memorable win in a nail-biting second T20I against Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. It was a low-scoring game in the second match, full of drama and pressure, but the home team held their nerves to win by 8 runs and take a 2-0 lead in the series. Bangladesh didn’t start well with the bat. They lost four big wickets inside the first six overs, including both openers and captain Litton Das. At 28-4, things looked tough.

But Jaker Ali stepped up and played a brave knock. He added 53 runs with Mahedi Hasan and brought some hope back. Jaker hit five sixes and one four in his 55-run innings before getting out in the later stage. Thanks to him, Bangladesh reached 133 runs in 20 overs. For Pakistan, bowlers Salman Mirza, Ahmed Daniyal, and Abbas Afridi all took two wickets each.

Pakistan had a poor start to their chase. They lost five wickets for just 17 runs in the powerplay. Shoriful Islam and Tanzim Hasan Sakib bowled with fire and kept the pressure on.

Faheem Ashraf gave Pakistan some hope with a quick 51 from 32 balls, hitting four fours and four sixes. But once he got bowled by Rishad Hossain in the 19th over, the match turned again. Pakistan were bowled out for 125, falling short by 8 runs in the final over. It was a great team effort by Bangladesh, especially their bowlers, who kept calm and bowled very well under pressure. With this win, they sealed the T20I series 2-0 at home.

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Twitter reactions after Bangladesh Script Historic Series Win Over Pakistan by 8 Runs

Bangladesh won by 8 runs and also won the series #PAKvBAN pic.twitter.com/6FckxgIlMB

— Sama Umair (@umair6723) July 22, 2025

🚨BANGLADESH BOWLED PAKISTAN OUT FOR 125 RUNS AND WON THE SERIES 2-0!

- Good fight by Ahmed Daniyal and Faheem Ashraf but all in vain💔. Congratulations to Bangladeshi fans🙌🏼❤️#PakvsBan pic.twitter.com/cbRoyu6klO

— Rayham (@RayhamUnplugged) July 22, 2025

13 runs to defend. 6 balls to go.
But Bangladesh bowlers stood like a wall! 🧱🔥
What a clutch final over to seal an 8-run win vs Pakistan!
Low score – big drama! 💥
Defended like champions! 🇧🇩#BANvsPAK #LastOverThriller #BangladeshCricket #T20Drama #PakvsBan pic.twitter.com/bRm8poIc06

— Cricket__Cinema (@cricket_cinima) July 22, 2025

Unacceptable result.. no way.. Bangladesh beat pak by 8 runs and won the series too..#PAKvBAN pic.twitter.com/oxwLTu3cWi

— Shakeel Khan Khattak (@ShakeelktkKhan) July 22, 2025

BAN 133 (20)
PAK 125 (19.2)

Bangladesh have won by 8 runs. pic.twitter.com/Hgf4uXdYhV

— Cricket.com (@weRcricket) July 22, 2025

Let's laugh at Pakistan for this mighty performance against Bangladesh, if one team is garbage the other is no less than trash. pic.twitter.com/0XOQyvdsjR

— 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗚𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗽𝘀𝗲 𝗫 (@CricketGlimpseX) July 22, 2025

Bangladesh clinch the match by 8 runs and seal the series 2-0 🇧🇩
A spirited fightback from Pakistan; from 15/5 to taking it to the final over!
Faheem Ashraf and debutant Ahmed Daniyal deserve massive credit for their grit and fight 👏🏻🔥#PakistanCricket #pakvsban pic.twitter.com/eS3DmIV9zK

— ProSports (@ProSportsStudio) July 22, 2025

Bangladesh beats Pakistan by eight runs in last over thriller!

Once again Pakistan gone😀😀
Jay Shah ki saazish hai 🤣 #PakistanCricket #PakvsBan pic.twitter.com/bLSs7C3AdL

— Kapadia CP (@Ckant72) July 22, 2025