Asia Cup 2025: "India is bound to have one bad day…"- Shoaib Akhtar drops bombshell prediction for India vs Pakistan final

Shoaib Akhtar believes that Pakistan will defeat India in Asia Cup 2025 final.

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar feels that Pakistan Cricket Team will defeat Indian Cricket Team in Asia Cup 2025 final. Akhtar predicted that the Suryakumar Yadav-led side will have a bad day on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai.

India and Pakistan are set to lock horns in the summit clash of Asia Cup 2025 on September 28 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. The Men in Blue have been unbeaten in the tournament so far and booked their berth in the final after winning their Super Four matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh.

On the other hand, Pakistan lost their opening game of the Super Four round against India. However, the Salman Agha-led side made a strong comeback, defeating Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in their next two clashes to become the second finalists of the tournament.

This will be the first time that India and Pakistan will clash in the final of the Asia Cup.

India is bound to have one bad day on Sunday: Shoaib Akhtar

Speaking on YouTube show “Game On Hai,” ahead of the final of Asia Cup 2025, Akhtar predicted that India would have a bad day on Sunday, where Pakistan would overpower them.

“This is the kind of hunger we need on Sunday, that’s about it. The reason is that India is bound to have one bad day – that has to be Sunday,” he said.

Akhtar also predicted that if Pakistan can reach close to a 200-run total against India batting first, they can easily outplay them with their pace attack later. He also hailed pacers Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf for their bowling show against Bangladesh.

“Batting first, Pakistan can probably reach somewhere close to 200. If Pakistan manage that, then mentally India is going to go down like anything. Because this bowling… and just imagine, just imagine for a second – if there was one more genuine fast bowler. You really need one more genuine fast bowler,” he said.

“If that happens, I feel it will become a very unbeatable squad when it comes to bowling. But again, it’s up to the coach. I think the bowling was right up to the mark, and Haris’ pace was 142–145, Shaheen was at 144–140. It goes to show they were really, really hungry as a unit,” Akhtar added.

Notably, India clinched comfortable victories against Pakistan on both occasions in Asia Cup 2025. In the group stage, the Men in Blue outplayed Pakistan by seven wickets, chasing down a 128-run target. In the Super Four clash, India pulled off a 172-run chase by six wickets, with an 105-run stand by openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill.

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