Pakistan and Bangladesh are locked in for a knockout clash in the Super 4s of the Asia Cup 2025, with a spot in the final against India up for grabs. Suryakumar Yadav and his men sealed the spot with a 41-run win over Bangladesh, meaning that the match on Thursday, September 25, just became all the more interesting.

Pakistan have had a rollercoaster ride during the Asia Cup 2025, both on and off the field. While the chatter outside the ground has grabbed headlines, the performances in the ground have caught the eye of the public, but for all the wrong reasons. Salman Ali Agha and his men have failed to impress during the tournament, with their performances considered to be far from convincing. Keeping the win against Oman aside, all the other games have seen Pakistan being criticised.

The losses to India were slammed for the lack of effort and meek surrender, while the UAE almost left Pakistan with egg on their faces. But they bounced back against Sri Lanka, despite making it hard on themselves. While the bowling was on point, the batting, especially from the top-order, was lacklustre and they needed Mohammad Nawaz and Hussain Talat to bail them out in the end.

For Bangladesh, it has been a fine tournament, despite their struggles in T20Is over the past few years. They are a team in transition, but have played with a lot of conviction. While they will want to forget the India loss quickly, the fielding and bowling in the death were positives. Saif Hassan has emerged as a star in the last two games.

They beat Afghanistan to reach the Super 4s and beat Sri Lanka as well. Against Pakistan, they would take a lot of heart from their 2-1 series win at home in July. Pakistan will need to ensure they’re at the top of their game to make it to the final and Bangladesh won’t make things easy for them.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, ahead of the game, said that Pakistan have come in to win the title and they don’t care about Suryakumar Yadav saying IND vs PAK isn’t a rivalry anymore.

“We are here to win the cup, whichever team comes in the final, we are ready to beat them,” said Shaheen.

Well, they will need to be at the top of their game against a Bangladesh team aiming to shake the system and stop a third India vs Pakistan clash in the tournament.

Will Pakistan drop Saim Ayub?

How quickly time flies. There was a time when Saim Ayub was considered as one of the best openers in the world. His exploits against the likes of South Africa and Australia had everyone mesmerised and the comparisons between him and Abhishek Sharma were justified.

Both men seemed to follow the same template when it comes to batting, and are more than handy with the ball. But the gulf is there for everyone to see this tournament as Abhishek sits at the top of the run-getters chart with 248 runs to his name in five matches at a strike-rate of 206.66.

At the same time, Ayub has scored just 23 runs with a strike-rate of 95.83. He has contributed with the ball, but that’s a job that Mohammad Nawaz can fill in, despite not bowling in the last two games. At the moment, Ayub seems like a liability, and we could see him make way for Khushdil Shah or Hassan Nawaz as Pakistan chase the win.

This may also mean that captain Salman Agha will have to take more responsibility and remain at the No.4 spot.

Bangladesh played a second-string side on Wednesday against India, with Taskin Ahmed and Litton Das missing the match. Both men will be back for this fixture with Parvez Hossain Emon and Mohammad Saifuddin making way.

Pakistan vs Bangladesh: Predicted playing XIs

Pakistan predicted XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Hassan Nawaz/Khushdil Shah, Salman Agha (capt), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.

Bangladesh predicted XI: Tanzid Hasan, Saif Hassan, Litton Das (capt & wk), Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

Pakistan vs Bangladesh: Dubai pitch conditions

The pitch in Dubai has been slow and sluggish, with it being tough to bat in the first innings. Expect the winner of the toss to field first and chase down a target.

Pakistan vs Bangladesh: Match details

Pakistan and Bangladesh will play at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The match will start at 8 pm IST.

Pakistan vs Bangladesh: Livestreaming

The tournament is being livestreamed on the SonyLiv app. The matches will also be broadcast on Sony Sports Network.

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