Key Points

India will meet Pakistan for the second time in the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4 stage at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.

India's Asia Cup campaign got off to a flying start, with the team winning all three group stage matches against UAE, Pakistan and Oman. Suryakumar emphasised a focused approach, urging his team to take each game one at a time rather than relying on past successes.

While speaking in the pre match press conference Suryakumar Yadav said, "I feel our preparations have been excellent, leading into the tournament and we had 3 good games also, so we are actually focusing on what we can do best and as I said on the toss as well that we want to follow all the good habits, which we have been doing in the last 2-3 games and we will take one game at a time, but yeah, as you said, it doesn't give us an edge, that we have played them once and we had a good game, so of course it will be a good game, we will have to start well from scratch and whoever plays well will win the game."

After fresh controversies of no handshakes, deliberations, and pull-out threats, India and Pakistan will face off yet again.

The controversy erupted when India opted to eschew shaking hands with Pakistan players after securing an imposing 7-wicket win in the rivalry clash in Dubai on Sunday at the ongoing Asia Cup. Pakistan swiftly responded and expressed its disappointment by withdrawing from the post-match presentation.

India's stance was linked to the strained relations between the two nations in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, during which 26 tourists were killed on April 22 by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists.

The handshake imbroglio escalated after PCB lodged a complaint against Pycroft and accused him of violating the ICC Code of Conduct and the MCC laws relating to the spirit of cricket. However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) blatantly refused to entertain Pakistan's request. In response, the PCB threatened to pull out of their do-or-die fixture against the UAE.

Suryakumar expressed gratitude for the Indian fans' unwavering support, urging them to enjoy the game comfortably. He emphasised that the team will play with intensity and energy, striving to deliver their best performance on the field against arch-rivals Pakistan.

"I mean, the way the country always supports in every game, the same way they should support in this game also, and since it's Sunday, I think more people will watch the match, so they should sit comfortably and enjoy the game, and when we go to the ground, we will try to play with the same intensity, with the same energy and we always try to keep our A game ahead and we will try the same on the ground," he added.

In their first meeting in the ongoing Asia Cup, Suryakumar top-scored with an unbeaten 47 off 37 balls as India chased down a 128-run target in just 15.5 overs.

In the eighth time in the last nine T20Is between India and Pakistan, the chasing side has ended up winning. The only exception was the T20 World Cup game in New York last year, where India won batting first.

India Asia Cup Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma(w), Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh.

- ANI