Asia Cup 2025: "Tilak Varma treated Shaheen Afridi like a net-ball spinner" - Former India captain tears into Pakistan's pace spearhead

Shaheen Afridi had a forgettable outing against India in the Super-Four encounter in the 2025 Asia Cup. The one-sided clash was held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, September 21. Suryakumar Yadav-led India chased down a 172-run target in 18.5 overs, with six wickets in the bank.

While Shivam Dube starred with the ball, finishing with figures of 2/33 in four overs, Abhishek Sharma was the batter who stood out for India. The Punjab opener amassed 74 off just 39 deliveries to set up the comprehensive victory. However, another batter who managed to stand out for India was Tilak Varma, who walked out to bat at No. 4 and scored an unbeaten 30 off 19 balls, hitting two fours and as many sixes.

In the 19th over of India's innings, Tilak hit Shaheen for a six over long-off and a four down to deep backward square-leg to wrap up the game. The latter finished with dismal figures of 0/40 in 3.5 overs.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar hailed Tilak's talent, mentioning that the southpaw made Shaheen, Pakistan's premier speedster, look like a net-ball spinner.

“In the end, another super-talented batter, Tilak Varma, treated Pakistan’s premier bowler, Shaheen Shah Afridi, like a net-ball spinner and smashed him around to wrap a win with deliveries to spare,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for The Sportstar.

Pakistan suffered their second defeat against India in the ongoing Asia Cup. Salman Ali Agha and Co. lost to the Men in Blue by seven wickets in a clash in Group A of the tournament.

Now, Pakistan will look to get back to winning ways on Tuesday, September 23, as they take on Sri Lanka at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Whichever team loses this clash will be all but eliminated from the race to the final. The Lankan Lions started their Super-Four campaign with a four-wicket defeat against Bangladesh in Dubai.