After the previous controversies, the ICC handed over the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup Final match duties to Match Referee Richie Richardson, instead of Andy Pycroft.
India will be taking on Pakistan in the highly anticipated Asia Cup 2025 Final match. This is the first time in 8 years that the two rivals are all set to feature in a knockout game. The last time they met in a knockout fixture was back in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, where Pakistan won the match.
Andy Pycroft snubbed as Match referee ahead of Asia Cup Final
Last time India played against Pakistan, the PCB had filed for a sanction against the Match referee, Andy Pycroft. However, ICC did not consider PCB’s plea for any disciplinary sanction against the referee.
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The first time these two teams played in this edition of the Asia Cup, the Indian skipper snubbed Salman Agha of a handshake. The PCB had blamed Pycroft for the incident, stating that he was biased towards the Indian captain.
However, Richie Richardson, the referee who recently chaired the ICC’s disciplinary hearing on Suryakumar Yadav, has now been reported as the new match referee in the final contest. This would prevent both boards from creating further controversies.
Richie Richardson is ICC match referee today.#AsiaCup2025 #INDvsPAK
— Kushan Sarkar (@kushansarkar) September 28, 2025
Pakistan sank from 113/1 to 146 all out
The Asia Cup final started off well, with Sahibzada Farhan dominating with a half-century early in the innings. Fakhar Zaman too played well at the top; however, it was his dismissal that led to Pakistan’s sudden collapse.
The Indian spinner then turned the game once again, proving Gautam Gambhir’s strategies right. Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets in his spell, while Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel also picked a wicket each.
Jasprit Bumrah’s two wickets to wind up the Pakistan tail helped India dismiss them for the score of 146, hence limiting them to a modest target of 147.
Pakistan need the early wicket of Abhishek Sharma to set their eye on the Asia Cup
After having failed to be promising with the bat, despite their quick start to their innings, Pakistan’s middle order collapsed miserably. After the two openers fell, the middle-order batters failed to reach a double-digit score.
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