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India won the India Pakistan Asian Games cricket final by 19 runs on Saturday, beating Pakistan 211-6 to 192-6 in the men’s Twenty20 match in Nagoya, Japan. The result gave India the men’s cricket gold medal and completed a golden double after India’s women had already won their final.
The victory matters beyond the medal because India and Pakistan meet only in international tournaments and on neutral ground amid political tensions. The India Pakistan Asian Games cricket final also carried that wider significance. According to the Guardian’s report on the final, the captains did not take part in the customary pre-match handshake, while the Indian team celebrated afterward by carrying its national flag around the ground.
How India Pakistan Asian Games cricket final was decided
India chose to bat and built its total around two contrasting phases. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi attacked immediately, hitting two sixes in the second over before being dismissed four balls later for 15. The 15-year-old’s brief innings set an aggressive tone, but India still had to recover after Pakistan’s bowlers began to limit the scoring.
Abhishek Sharma supplied the main early innings. He reached 50 from 20 balls and finished with 61. Pakistan’s fielding helped India’s total: Abhishek was dropped twice and survived a run-out chance when a throw missed both the stumps and the wicketkeeper.
India reached 133-5 in the 15th over after Abhishek, Ishan Kishan and captain Shreyas Iyer had gone. Kishan made 20 and Iyer 21. The innings changed again when Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube attacked at the end, adding 62 for the sixth wicket in five overs.
Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube powered the late surge
Varma finished unbeaten on 51 and struck four sixes. Dube contributed 27 and hit two sixes. Their partnership took India beyond 200 and left Pakistan needing a demanding chase on a converted baseball field at Korogi Park Athletic Stadium.
The final was played before a small but loud crowd in Nagoya, while hundreds of millions of fans in India and Pakistan watched on television, according to the Guardian. Holding the match in Japan also placed a familiar rivalry in an unusual setting: neither team was playing at home, and the venue had been adapted from a baseball field.
Hasan Nawaz kept Pakistan in the T20 final
Pakistan began its chase with a 33-run opening stand from Sahibzada Farhan and Maaz Sadaqat. Farhan scored 10, while Sadaqat made 23. Pakistan appeared vulnerable after Sadaqat’s dismissal, but Hasan Nawaz changed the pace of the innings.
Hasan reached 50 from 28 balls, using five sixes to attack the pitch’s pace and bounce. He and Saim Ayub added 87 before Dube dismissed Ayub. Washington Sundar took the catch while moving in from square leg, leaving Pakistan at 126-4 at the beginning of the 15th over.
Hasan continued to carry Pakistan’s chase. With Pakistan needing 52 runs from the final three overs, Sundar dismissed Abdul Samad to a catch at long-on. Pakistan then stood at 168-5 with two overs left.
India brought Jasprit Bumrah back for the penultimate over, which cost 11 runs. That left Pakistan needing 33 from the last over, bowled by Dube. Hasan finished with 96 from 51 balls, including seven sixes and five fours, but was dismissed from the final delivery while attempting another big shot.
What the Asian Games result adds to the rivalry
The scoreline shows that Pakistan stayed in the match deep into the chase despite India’s late batting burst. It also gives the India Pakistan cricket rivalry another tournament result in a neutral country, rather than a bilateral series. The captains’ decision not to shake hands before the match reflected the political tension that shapes when and where these teams meet.
For India, the men’s result sits alongside the women’s gold medal, which came on 22 September after a 147-run win over Sri Lanka. The Asian Games cricket medal table also includes Sri Lanka’s bronze after its 63-run victory over Bangladesh in the third-place playoff.
There is no further result to report from the source beyond the completed medal matches. India’s men leave the tournament with the gold, Pakistan with silver, and Hasan’s 96 as the standout individual score in the chase. The final also produced a clear statistical outline of the contest: India’s 211-6 was enough because Pakistan’s pursuit ended at 192-6 after the last-ball dismissal.
