Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lavished praise on batter Tilak Varma for his brilliant knock in the Asia Cup 2025 final against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. The 39-year-old praised the southpaw for the calmness he showed while rescuing the Men in Blue from 20/3 in their chase of 147 runs in the summit clash.
The Hyderabad batter remained unbeaten on 69 off 53 balls as the Suryakumar Yadav-led side won with five wickets in hand and two balls to spare.
“Tilak Varma absolutely stole the show. He showed that he made of veins of ice. Outstanding knock. India were in a very precarious situation. Thanks to Haris Rauf, we won the match easily,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
“Tilak Varma soaked the pressure. He played spin really well. He played sweeps, he was able to hit down the ground. He realised that the bounce on the wicket was a little sticky and started playing square off the wicket. People think that it is easy to hit this shot (six to Rauf) but falling in the line and picking it up is difficult,” he added.
Ashwin also complimented the role played by Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy in pulling things back after Pakistan had got off to a flyer in the opening 10 overs.
“I would like to give credit to Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav. It was a next level comeback. Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman gave them a superb start. However, this is difference between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka handed our spinners beautifully and even made the right shot selection. If you look at teams in Asia, Pakistan have very good players of spin. However, it is big match pressure. There are many people in the Indian team who can face this pressure,” he said.
Ravichandran Ashwin reveals the reason behind Kuldeep’s bowling performances in Dubai
Ashwin also explained why Kuldeep Yadav had excelled at the 2025 Asia Cup, citing that the slowness of the surfaces in Dubai didn’t allow batters to play freely.
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“The reason Kuldeep Yadav bowled so well was because, the shot that Sanju got out, the same shot in IPL in Jaipur would have been a six over extra cover. In Dubai, when you bowl slow, the ball sits down and becomes lumpy with more bounce. It takes a top edge. See the example of Saim Ayub, he tried to cut it but it took an edge and Bumrah caught it at point. Wickets like this would never fall in the IPL. Think carefully. That is probably the difference,” he said.
The 30-year-old left-arm wristspinner finished as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 17 wickets in seven matches, at an average of 9.29.
The post‘Thanks to Haris Rauf, we won the match easily’: Ravichandran Ashwin reacts to India’s win over Pakistan in Asia Cup 2025 final | Cricket News appeared first on Indian Express
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