Pakistan's upper hand over Team India in finals a cause for concern?

As Team India gets set to lock horns against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final, here's an interesting statistic for you. We don’t mean to scare you, but Team India’s record in tournament finals against Pakistan isn’t all that great.

The Asia Cup final will be the 6th time these arch-rivals clash in a summit clash, and out of the previous 5 such occasions, Pakistan has come out on top 3 times.

Everyone remembers the 2017 Champions Trophy final—despite India defeating Pakistan in the league stage, Pakistan had the last laugh in the final. Apart from that, Pakistan also won the Austral-Asia Cup finals against India in 1986 and 1994.

But it’s not like India has never tasted success in finals. Who can ever forget the 2007 T20 World Cup final? On top of that, India also defeated Pakistan in the final of the Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket in 1985—the very first tournament where the two teams faced off in a final.

1985 Benson & Hedges Ind Won
World C'ship by 8 Wkts

1986 Austral-Asia Cup Pak Won
by 1 Wkt

1994 Austral-Asia Cup Pak Won
by 39 Runs

2007 T20 World Cup Ind Won
by 5 Runs

2017 Champions Trophy Pak Won
by 180 Runs

So, when it comes to finals, Pakistan leads 3-2. But with the way this current Indian team is playing, it wouldn’t be a surprise if that record is soon levelled at 3-3.

Team India has been unbeaten in the tournament. They reached the final after crushing the UAE, Pakistan and Oman in the group stage, and then once again beat Pakistan and then Bangladesh to punch their ticket to the final before even facing Sri Lanka in their final Super Four game.

Pakistan, on the other hand, have had a topsy-turvy run to the final. They too managed to beat the UAE and Oman, but were crushed by India in the league stage. They were once again handed a defeat by Suryakumar Yadav's men in the Super Four stage, but they came up trumps against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the other two games to make it to the final.

This will be the 3^rd time these arch-rivals clash in Asia Cup 2025 and the first time in the tournament's 41-year history that Pakistan and India will lock horns in the final.

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