Suryakumar Yadav’s handling of Kuldeep Yadav turning point; Pakistan players’ game awareness zero: Ex-Pakistan players

Former Pakistan players Shoaib Malik, Misbah UL Haq, and Shoaib Akhtar analyzed Pakistan’s Asia Cup 2025 final loss to India deeply and pointed out where India won the game and slammed Pakistani players for their lack of game awareness.

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Kuldeep Yadav’s 4/30 helped India restrict Pakistan to 146 despite being 113/1 at one stage. In response, India was reduced to 20/3, but Tilak Varma’s 69* and his fifty-run partnerships with Sanju Samson (24) and Shivam Dube (33) took India past the finish line by 5 wickets. 

Former T20 World Cup and CT champions Shoaib Malik and Misbah ul Haq believed that Suryakumar Yadav's treatment of Kuldeep Yadav indicated clever strategy.

“Actual turning point was Surya stopping Kuldeep after two overs. His expression was whether he had taken right call or not. He had given 29 in first three overs. Last over he gave only 6. Surya used tactics. He knew the ball is new, Sahibzada had hit him for 6 on back foot, Fakhar on front foot off semi new ball. Surya decided to bring him back when ball got a bit older when conditions would get difficult,” Misbah said on PTV Sports.

“First two overs you had won battle against him by hitting sixes. But next two overs you were not gonna win battle by hitting 6. You were in a position that even if you scored just 12 off his next two overs and didn’t lose wickets, you would have reached 170. But Pakistan’s game awareness is zero,” Malik added.

In addition to calling the establishment lallu, Shoaib Akhtar experienced three stages of confused grief following the defeat, oscillating between acceptance and condemnation on PTV.

“Pakistan reached final after playing decent cricket. It’s not a stroke of luck. You know how to reach final, it’s a good team. In their defense, since 1990s, they have made every semi or final. It’s debatable and you can’t be angry that our middle order let us down. Many said we needed Hasan Nawaz today. And a fast bowler was needed today. Pakistan has made serious progress in making finals, but not winning final is. Capitalisation we could not do. You can’t blame the middle order. It is the blame of the management who is not thinking right. Senseless coaching. Sorry for harsh words. We had match winners sitting at home,” he said. 

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“Lost 9 wickets for 33 runs. Even first wicket got out unnecessarily. We needed to plan every phase. Even 60 in 6 overs didn’t drop from a tree. You have to get set, play a few singles. Right from first ball they went after bowlers. One ball Haris came and hit and then Out. Everyone did same. Kuldeep in 3 overs was on 29 runs, 1 wicket. Fourth over we gave him 3 wickets. There was no communication on Plan B. To assess situation, take score to 160. We repeatedly changed middle orders. We again had the game in first 6 overs when they batted. But made mistakes in crucial moments. Run out and catch. I have not understood how we missed that run out where batsman was at least 2 feet away and ball was in frame but we missed. Haris delayed or didn’t realise batsman wouldn’t reach. But under pressure we erred. Match was there. You got Tilak Varma, match khatam. You slipped,” Misbah stated.

Misbah stressed that it was about snapping wickets: “Bowling options. They struggled to score more than 6 runs off spinners. Ball was in your hand. Wikton ko udaa do! With both hands. Why were you looking at settling batsmen and then trying to get them out. Nawaz is our main bowler. His spin was unreadable. But you removed him after one over. Most attacking option. Leftie. If we got Tilak out, game khatm thi.”

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