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In the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 round last night, the Indian cricket team got the better of Pakistan in a convincing fashion by six wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, to take a step towards reaching the final of the tournament. Following the conclusion of the one-sided match, Rashid Latif, the former Pakistan captain, launched a scathing attack on Salman Agha and Co., stating that they gave up against the arch-rivals India.
Notably, after being put into bat first, Pakistan top order batted fluently, to get up to 91/1 in 10 overs with Sahibzada Farhan (58 off 45) and Saim Ayub (21 off 17) batting well, but then following their dismissals, the batting lineup lost their flow completely until the cameo of Faheem Ashraf (20* off 8). In pursuit of the 172-run target, Abhishek Sharma (74 off 39) and Shubman Gill (47 off 28) shared an opening stand of 105 runs quite quickly before the Indian middle order got them over the line.
While reacting to the Asia Cup 2025 contest between India and Pakistan in Dubai, Rashid Latif said to Times of India (TOI), “This match wasn’t enjoyable.” He was also quite critical of Pakistan’s batting performance overall, stating, “Pakistan were batting so well, how did it suddenly turn bad? You didn’t even try to be aggressive. They gave up. Why didn’t they try to attack in the middle overs, I don’t know.”
Mohammad Nawaz too played slowly, never tried to accelerate the scoring rate: Rashid Latif
During a critical phase of Pakistan innings in the second half, the middle order batters weren’t able to hit even one boundary in 37 balls, leaving a few runs out there, which eventually was the difference maker. Rashid Latif remarked, “Sahibzada Farhan and Hussain Talat had a 17-run partnership in 17 balls. Farhan scored 5 off 6 deliveries, and Talat made 10 off 11. At that point, Pakistan was in control. You should have gone for your shots, even if you got out. Instead, you got out after wasting time.”
The 56-year-old also criticised the experienced Mohammad Nawaz, who ran himself out, by stating, “Then Mohammad Nawaz came, and he too played slowly, never tried to accelerate the scoring rate. That’s why I don’t trust their batting or bowling.”
