Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha has confidently stated that his team has “saved their best” for the Asia Cup 2025 final against India, despite heavy defeats in the earlier matches against the Men in Blue in Dubai. Speaking at the pre-final press conference, Salman acknowledged that pressure is immense on both sides, saying, “There is always a lot of pressure on Pakistan and India when they play each other, and if we say that there is no pressure, then it is wrong. Both the teams will have the same amount of pressure.”
He added, “We have made more mistakes than them and that is why we have not won matches. If we make fewer mistakes than them, we will win. Whichever team makes fewer mistakes will win, and we will try to make fewer mistakes. Inshallah, you will see us winning tomorrow. Our attempt is to play our best cricket. And we know that if we play our best cricket and execute our plans for 40 overs, then we can beat any team. And we will try to do that.”
On Haris Rauf
Salman also defended the aggression shown by Pakistan’s fast bowlers in the tournament, emphasizing the importance of expressing emotions on the field. “It rests with the individual, everyone has their own way. If someone wants to be aggressive on the ground, then why not? Because if you take away aggression from a fast bowler, then nothing is left. Every player knows how to deal with his emotions. As a captain, I give a free hand to any player on how to react on the ground, unless he is disrespecting someone or doing something disrespectful to the country. If you snatch gestures from a fast bowler, I don’t think he will be as effective as he should be. And if an individual wants to be aggressive on the ground, most welcome whether he is from our team or theirs, I have no problem with that.”
This confident stance comes amid heightened emotions and fierce rivalry as Pakistan seeks to overturn previous losses and lift the Asia Cup trophy in a high-pressure encounter against India.
SQUADS
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Pakistan: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufyan Moqim.