India vs Pakistan T20 Today Match Full Scorecard Updates

Arshdeep Singh's playing XI snub wasn't one that Indian fans predicted in the prelude to the fresh T20 season, starting in Dubai. For nearly an entire semester since starring alongside Jasprit Bumrah in the T20 World Cup, Arshdeep single-handedly led the pace attack against Bangladesh, South Africa and England while delivering immaculate consistency in the PP and at the death. It was not for nothing then that the left-armer soon vaulted to the top spot in India's T20I bowling charts and currently ranks as No. 1 with 99 scalps. Bringing back Arshdeep into the fold will not be easy as India will have to compromise some of its batting stocks to achieve a balance. But in an enticing IND-PAK contest, the Men in Blue might be tempted to bring Arshdeep back, even if it slightly goes against coach Gautam Gambhir's philosophies in such conditions.

It has only been four years since that hot March evening in Ahmedabad. After being denied a spot in India's conventional stack of T20 bats for long, Suryakumar Yadav ensured that his one chance at 31 would not go to the bin unnoticed. Marching to the turf, Mumbai's super-striker instantly delivered a statement for the world to see, smasing a scorching Jofra Archer's fiery bumper over fine-leg for six. Suryakumar Yadav's rapid rise in the shortest format was married with the changing winds in Indian cricket this decade, where the intent quotient steadily grew over the high-average bats. And he's not been short on consistency either. In only 80 innings, Suryakumar has plundered 2605 runs at 38.30 with four centuries, only bettered by Rohit Sharma.

Staggeringly, no batter has recorded even 2000 runs with a strike rate that matches up to the SKY juggernaut that dashes at 167.30 runs per 100 balls. Suryakumar's strike rate still stands the highest among all batters from Full-Member nations with at least 1500 runs. While his recent form has been patchy, a special 35th birthday on the field on Sunday might just do the trick for India's T20I captain.

Ahead of the India vs Pakistan encounter in Dubai, here is our selection of five big games between the two arch-rivals.

2023: When India thrashed Pakistan by a massive 228 runs, thanks to Virat Kohli and KL Rahul both scoring centuries. Even captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill chipped in with half centuries to help India post 356/2 in 50 overs.

2010: When Harbhajan Singh dragged India to victory over Pakistan in Sri Lanka... with the bat!

2012: When Virat Kohli smashed 183 runs against Pakistan in Bangladesh in Sachin Tendulkar's final ODI match for Team India

2014: When Shahid Afridi helped Pakistan to victory with two sixes in final over

2022: When Hardik Pandya became Team India's hero

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Should India be playing Pakistan? That’s a question many fans will confront today in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir earlier this year.

Aishanya Dwivedi, the widow of Pahalgam terror attack victim Shubham Dwivedi, has asked fans to not switch on their TV today for the India vs Pakistan game.

"BCCI should not have accepted a match between India and Pakistan. I think the BCCI is not sentimental towards those 26 families. What are our cricketers doing? It is said that cricketers are nationalists. It is viewed as our national game. But except for one or two cricket players, nobody has stepped forward to say that we should boycott the match against Pakistan. BCCI cannot make them play at gunpoint. They should take a stand for their country. But they are not doing it,” Dwivedi told new agency ANI before the game.

She added: “I would like to ask the sponsors and broadcasters if their nationality for those 26 families is finished?What will the revenue from the match be used for? Pakistan will use this just for terrorism. That is a terrorist nation. You will provide them revenue and prepare them to attack us once again. I cannot understand this. I urge people to boycott this. Do not go to watch this and do not switch on your TV for this."

There has been plenty of chatter about the Indian cricket team taking on Pakistan in an Asia Cup encounter today, especially after the heinous Pahalgam terror attack earlier in the year. The BCCI's decision to allow Team India to play in the Asia Cup has generated plenty of criticism.

Talking about politics of an India vs Pakistan encounter, guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, "Games should be left as games. Politics should not enter the games. But unfortunately, that is not the case now. I will leave the decision to the young people of our country. If they want to play, nobody should stop them. Games unite people from all over the world... Players are not politicians, they are free. We should explore every avenue in which we can bring more peace to society."

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has called for the Indian team to pick Arshdeep Singh in the side for Asia Cup games.

"You will have to bring him (Arshdeep) in the XI. You should also look at the road ahead. It is possible that they could be thinking, 'Asia Cup is Asia Cup, let's get the Asia Cup out of the way and then we'll see what happens next.'

"That kind of thought process can be in your mind, but in my view, my thought process is this: if you can lock Shubman Gill at the opening, you can lock Suryakumar Yadav at number four, you can lock Jasprit Bumrah at number 11, then he is fit and you can bring him into the team. Someone who has been your best T20 bowler, why doesn't he get a lock in the team? He should! You write all those names first and then fit the rest into the team," Ashwin said on the Ash Ki Baat YouTube channel.

"See, this rule that there is a different rule for a batsman and a bowler, it has always been an issue in my head. It's not right to do that. And with respect to bowling and batting, sometimes decisions about bowlers are taken by batsmen. Sometimes, people who have never bowled a single ball in their life, but bowlers have been doing that forever. So, it's very difficult for them to understand a bowler's mindset and his confidence. So as a bowler, think about his confidence. Arshdeep Singh, if you are telling him, 'Brother, you have to contribute a little more with the bat,' he will contribute. He will work hard. But if you are consistently parking him..."

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has said that he is not happy with the side that Pakistan have taken to the UAE for the Asia Cup.

"I think Pakistan has to bring an A+ squad (to an event like Asia Cup), first of all. I have a problem with the selection anyway, with this old squad in the first place. You don't have a new ball bowler with Shaheen Shah Afridi. If the fast bowler is there, he should be in the squad," said Akhtar on PTV Sports.

When asked which bowler he would have picked, he said: "Naseem Shah."

He went on: "Fast bowlers are like babies, right? Selection is not right. Now the problem is that you don't have the whole bowling attack."

There have been plenty of calls for a boycott of the India vs Pakistan game in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and the consequent Operation Sindoor.

But Pakistan cricket legend Wasim Akram has exhorted players and fans to 'enjoy' the match as 'it's a game of cricket'.

Talking to French news-gathering agency AFP, Akram said, "Enjoy, it's a game of cricket. "Forget about everything other than cricket. One team will win, and one team will lose.

"Just enjoy the moment if you win the game. Pressure will come, enjoy that and show discipline because this is just a game. It's for both teams and for both sets of fans."

There are few batters in the world more destructive than Suryakumar Yadav. Well, there are maybe none. And yet, we haven't really seen the best of the Indian captain when playing against Pakistan. In five T20Is he has played against them, SKY has scored just 64 runs at a strike rate of 118.51 and average of 12.80. In this time, SKY has had to face some world class talent in the Pakistan bowling lineup. But this struggle remains strange simply because well, SKY has made quite a few world class attacks look utterly toothless.

In his recent Ash ki Baat conversation on his YouTube channel, former India cricketer Ravishandran Ashwin gave the Indian cricket team a whopping 70 per cent chance of winning the contest against arch-rival Pakistan on Sunday in Dubai.

“I would say 70-30 in favor of India. India has a very strong team. Pakistan also has very talented people. But I think India has a lot of muscle,” Ashwin said.

He did however add that it would be Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha who would be the happier one with the state of pitches being provided for the Asia Cup.

“The match that happened between Pakistan and Oman. It seemed like Oman bowled well, but the wicket wasn't that easy to bat on either. If I were Salman Ali Agha and had a middle-order batsman like Hasan, I'd be very happy playing on the pitches that are currently being provided for the Asia Cup. It feels like they haven't dried the wicket too much, so it has more moisture. The wicket has a lot of moisture and the grass is also a bit thick. Because of this, you are not seeing much lateral movement. But there is a tendency for the ball to go up and down. Actually, lateral movement will reduce after some time. But it's very difficult to handle this up and down bounce,” Ashwin added.

Tanishq Vaddi: About 1480 days ago, Varun Chakarvarthy was part of that infamous India 10-wicket loss against Pakistan in Dubai during the 2021 T20 World Cup. Since he has come a long way as a bowler, however, he did not have the opportunity to redeem himself against Pakistan. Back then, he came in as a mystery spinner after a successful IPL campaign, but on that day, under high pressure, he could not weave his magic, and to be fair to him, conditions were against him with a lot of dew, and the total from India posted too was a subpar one.

His selection too came under sharp criticism as he was picked over Yuzvendra Chahal in the squad at the time. But things have changed this time around. He has a lot more finesse to his variations and, most importantly, is mentally ready to deal with the pressure of the stage after his success in the last year as an Indian cricketer and, most importantly, after his performance at the Champions Trophy 2025 (50-over format) earlier this year, where he picked nine wickets from three games.

With all he achieved in the last year in the T20 format, his arc of redemption is set up nicely.

In his recent Ash ki Baat conversation on his YouTube channel, former India cricketer Ravishandran Ashwin was asked about the low demand for tickets for the India vs Pakistan game in Dubai and whether it means that the hype for the clash is dulling.

“Actually, I don't know much about the hype. But one thing I feel is that maybe tickets for the Super Four game (between India and Pakistan) will sell. Because I think the situation is people are selling tickets by making a package of all the games, right? Where if you want to watch the India vs Pakistan match, you also have to watch the Pakistan vs Oman match. Nobody wants to watch all this, man, and it's a waste of money. Why would people want to watch that? And I think all in all, we can only tell what the ticket sales are like after the Super Four games, whether the craze has gone down or not. But the India vs Pakistan match, I generally feel, has become a bit of a lopsided contest. India's strength is known to everyone. It's not like anyone. I mean, even I'm sure the Pakistani experts will definitely say that this Indian team is very, very strong compared to Pakistan's. But this thing about the tickets, I think we will get an idea after the Super Four game.”

You may have noticed that the two sets of players you see today are significantly different from the ones that were seen regularly in recent fixtures between India and Pakistan. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have tormented Pakistan for years on end in ODIs and T20Is, Ravindra Jadeja may be slightly less so. All three are not there today as they retired from the format after powering India to victory in the T20 World Cup last year.

Meanwhile, Indian fans would also remember watching in shock as Shaheen Afridi dismantled their top order in the match the two sides played in the 2021 T20 World Cup, followed by Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam chasing the target down themselves and ensuring a 10-wicket win for Pakistan. Well, there is no Rizwan and Babar today. But unlike the Indian trio, it isn't because they have retired from the shortest format. Rizwan and Babar have many a year left in their careers and their absence today is because of Pakistan finally deciding to move on from them in this format. For now, at least.

Tanishq Vaddi: Before Gautam Gambhir took over as Head Coach under Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid, India had struggled to fit in enough left-handers into the side. Although they got that part right during the 2024 T20 World Cup when they had Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and Ravidnra Jadeja and Shivam Dube in the top eight in the 2022 World Cup in Australia, they just had one in the top seven. And the advantage of having that left-hand right-hand combination was seen when Axar Patel was promoted up the order when India lost three quick wickets in the final against South Africa in Barbados.

Gambhir has always been an advocate of left-hand right-hand combination during his franchise coaching roles in the Indian Premier League, and the same philosophy has been brought into the Indian side under his leadership. Against the Pakistan attack, which has a variety of spinners, Saim Ayub (off-spinner), Mohammad Nawaz (left-arm spinner), Abrar Ahmed (leg-spinner) and Sufiyan Muqeem (Left-arm wrist spinner), the Indian side has enough variety in batting now to deal with all kinds of bowling.

Should India be playing Pakistan? That’s a question many fans will confront today in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in Kashmir earlier this year.

Aishanya Dwivedi, the widow of Pahalgam terror attack victim Shubham Dwivedi, has asked fans to not switch on their TV today for the India vs Pakistan game.

"BCCI should not have accepted a match between India and Pakistan. I think the BCCI is not sentimental towards those 26 families. What are our cricketers doing? It is said that cricketers are nationalists. It is viewed as our national game. But except for one or two cricket players, nobody has stepped forward to say that we should boycott the match against Pakistan. BCCI cannot make them play at gunpoint. They should take a stand for their country. But they are not doing it,” Dwivedi told new agency ANI before the game.

She added: “I would like to ask the sponsors and broadcasters if their nationality for those 26 families is finished?What will the revenue from the match be used for? Pakistan will use this just for terrorism. That is a terrorist nation. You will provide them revenue and prepare them to attack us once again. I cannot understand this. I urge people to boycott this. Do not go to watch this and do not switch on your TV for this."

Tanishq Vaddi: Hardik Pandya and Faheem Ashraf almost play a similar role for their sides. However, Hardik is much more rounded in terms of both skills and experience at this stage of the game. His power game at the backend is quite lethal, and his bowling has come leaps and bounds over the years. From taking the new ball and swinging it, he also has masterful slower ones to rattle the batters through the middle overs and the final ones, at least for white-ball, Pandya is an all-condition all-rounder.

Now, if we consider Faheem Ashraf, he did burst onto the scene with a lot of expectations somewhere down the line, Pakistan has mismanaged his ability and could not develop him to the extent that Hardik has for India. However, for Sunday’s clash, he could not be taken lightly as he brings his share of tricks in these conditions, especially with the older ball, where his slower ones are quite deceptive and with the bat, he definitely can tonk a few out of the park at eight.

In May this year, right after 26 lives were lost in the Pahalgam terror attack, India head coach Gautam Gambhir was asked if India should be playing Pakistan in cricket tournaments.

“My personal answer to this is absolutely no. Till all this [terrorism] doesn't stop, there should not be anything between India and Pakistan,” Gambhir had said in May while speaking at an event in Delhi.

"Ultimately, this is [the] government's decision whether we play them or not," Gambhir said. "I have said this before also, no cricket match or Bollywood or any other interaction is more important than the life of Indian soldiers and Indian citizens. Matches will keep happening, movies will be made, singers will continue to perform, but nothing comes close to losing a loved one in your family.

"This is not up to me, it's not in my jurisdiction, this is for the BCCI and, more importantly, the government to decide whether we should play them or not. Whatever decision they make, we should be absolutely fine with it and not politicise it."

Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik has explained the one aspect that the Pakistan cricket team must take care of in order to defeat India today. Malik was a panelist on the Game On Hai show on Pakistan PTV, when he was asked what aspect would give Pakistan their best chance against India.

To this, Malik replied: “The toss is obviously not in their hands. It's not in any team's hands. It's not in anyone's hands. But the best possible chance for Pakistan is to get three to four of their players out, and that too for very few runs so that you can then play such a game with them that they stay below 160, below 150. So, I think this is a chance where I feel the Pakistan team can beat the Indian team.

“This is one, or the second scenario is that your spinners in the middle overs, both your spinners, get three wickets each. That can become a chance. If both of them play, Sufiyan Muqeem and Ibrar. If both of them play, then you have that chance because if their batsmen don't get out, whether they bat first or second, you are never in the game.”

The way the game is moving forward, anchors in T20, has become sort of dreaded word in T20 cricket. However, going back to the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup, when the Indian side was in trouble, it was Virat Kohli with his 59-ball 76 saved the day for India indicating that there is still room for such players when the conditions require however, India could afford to have someone like Kohli who is an anchor of sorts in the modern game is because of Rohit Sharma’s change of approach after the 2023 World Cup.

Drawing a similar parallel with Pakistan both Babar and Rizwan altough are technically sound players they do have their limitations in stroke play but in the recently concluded Tri-series in Sharjah the Pakistan middle order was quite combustble and have seen collapses too often which raises the question could Pakistan have stuck with atleast one of Babar or Rizwan in the side just as an insuarnce policy when the par scores are around 160-180 which is more often than not the case in Dubai.

The Asia Cup clash between India and Pakistan on Sunday will be the first time that the arch-rivals square off after the Pahalgam terror attack and the consequent Operation Sindoor in May. There are plenty of questions about whether India should be playing Pakistan at all. India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has revealed that head coach Gautam Gambhir addressed this issue in the dressing room.

“We obviously are aware of the sentiments and the strong feelings. And Gauti's (Gambhir's) message has just been very professional, about not worrying about things that are not in our control," India’s assistant coach said in the pre-match press conference. “You have to put those sentiments and emotions behind you. It's actually something addressed in the team meeting today. So we're aware of people's feelings. At the same time, we would put these aside and focus on the game.”

Pakistan, under Mike Hesson, have changed significantly in terms of the combination they are picking. Under the previous regimes their attack had been constructed around pace with the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf but with the new captain Salman Agha at the helm the side has been more inclined towards picking up multiple spinners in their attack and in a way the combination is similar to the Indian side with Shaheen Shah Afridi for the Men in Green and Jasprit Bumrah for the Men in Blue as lone pacers and the rest of the attack is constructed with spin all-rounders and mystery spinners.

Both sides, when met earlier in the year at the Champions Trophy 2025 India, have opted for this combination, where Pakistan played the pace-heavy side, which did look toothless on the docile Dubai wicket on that day. Although it is early cricket season in the UAE, the evidence so far in Dubai suggests the pitches have not been too different from the ones from the Champions Trophy, if anything slightly more pacier and even carry.

Sandip G, The Indian Express’ man on the ground in UAE for the Asia Cup, writes that the mood on the ground is muted, even for the big India vs Pakistan game.

He writes: “Watching Friday’s match against UAE on television, a Pakistan supporter enthusiastically says, ‘Hum India ko 70 runs mein all out karenge (We will get them all-out in 70 runs),’ only to add moments later: ‘Aur woh humko 50 mein all out karega! Umeed nahi hai (But they will get us out in 50 runs. There is no hope).’

“It was a rivalry that was once equal, replete with magnetic personas. Now, it has lost its competitive edge: India are world champions, the runaway leaders on the ranking pile, and Pakistan sit seventh, a spot below Sri Lanka, just precariously ahead of Bangladesh.”

Read Sandip G’s dispatch from Dubai HERE.

India and Pakistan are set to lock horns once again, this time in a T20I, having earlier faced each other in an ODI in the 2025 Champions Trophy in Dubai. They will be playing in Dubai today as well. The last time the two sides faced each other in a T20I was during the T20 World Cup last year, which India went on to win. It ended with their stars like captain Rohit Sharma, the talismanic Virat Kohli and veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja retiring from the format. Pakistan are also without two of their most recognisable names today. However, the reason Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan's absence today is that they have been dropped. These are two teams at two very different stages of their evolution - India are dominant, Pakistan are trying to rebuild. Stay tuned for more updates...

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