(Image source from: x.com/BCCI)

India started on a bad note. They were at 20 for 3 while trying to reach 146. Their top-notch batting team was losing their composure as Pakistan put pressure on them - this time for valid reasons since a championship was at stake.

A downfall of 9 wickets for 33 runs had left Salman Agha's team with no margin for mistakes, and they mostly handled it well. They dismissed Abhishek Sharma quickly, causing unease in a middle-order that had been rearranged to include Shubman Gill. What seemed like an easy chase quickly started to fall apart. Meanwhile, Tilak Varma was feeling the pressure in the game. The silence from the crowd. The confidence among the Pakistan players. The uncertainty faced by a billion people back home. Despite this, he managed to take it all in and delivered an outstanding half-century. He focused intensely, showing no emotion throughout his innings. But once it was over, he cheered, clenched his fists, made heart shapes with his hands, and reveled in the joy of earning India their ninth Asia Cup title.

The entire Asia Cup has been a measure of Pakistan's choice to move forward without Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. There is some truth to the idea that they do not take enough risks when batting early, and the powerplay shouldn’t be about holding back. Sahibzada Farhan understood this, and even though he didn’t always succeed, he kept swinging. A series of powerful swings got him to 26 off 21 balls. Those same swings - when they connected - led him to score 50 off 35.

Farhan and Fakhar Zaman managed to put pressure on one of India's reliable bowlers, Kuldeep Yadav. The left-arm wrist-spinner’s first two overs cost 23 runs. This led Suryakumar Yadav to bring in Varun Chakravarthy, a player Pakistan has struggled to handle. Just as expected, he dismissed both of Pakistan's top scorers. Farhan and Fakhar were the only players to score more than 15 runs.

Thanks to Varun's strikes, his teammates stepped up. Axar Patel took two wickets in consecutive overs, and Kuldeep grabbed three wickets in a single over. After starting strong at 107 for 1 with 44 balls left, they were all out with five balls to spare. Much of their innings was filled with aggressive swings. In the first 10 overs, they either made solid contact or completely missed. Therefore, only one wicket fell. In the following 10 overs, all the big hits resulted in mis-hits, leading to nine wickets falling. While all his teammates tried to force plays, Tilak opted to trust himself. He scored 24 off 26. But he didn’t seem to be bothered. Early on, he struck a shot off Ashraf for four runs through extra cover off his back foot, despite the ball having no speed.

The only method for him to discover the boundary was by perfectly timing the ball. For this to occur, he needed to fully understand the pitch. He accomplished that. This assurance powered the rest of his batting performance, reminding him that he didn’t need to push himself too hard. During the eighth and ninth overs of the chase, India was restricted to either singles or no runs as Abrar Ahmed and Saim Ayub adhered to the fundamentals - making sure the stumps were in play and challenging India to take risks if they wanted to score in a hurry. Tilak accepted this challenge but remained cautious, aiming for the full delivery which allowed him to access the pitch and reduce the spin. All this skillful play resulted in the ball sailing for six despite there being a long-on fielder. In the 15th over, Tilak displayed another clever move. With wickets falling around him, he proved he was ready for a challenge. By steadying India's innings with nearly no mistakes, he showed he was focused. Now, as Haris Rauf approached, he demonstrated his problem-solving skills. He recognized how difficult it was to hit the ball when it was fast. Since Pakistan was providing pace, he took full advantage. Seventeen runs were scored in that 15th over, altering the game’s dynamics. Instead of needing 64 runs off 36 balls, India now required 47 runs off 30 balls.

India were missing their main seam-bowling allrounder. Hardik Pandya was dealing with a minor quad injury and couldn't play. Shivam Dube played, after sitting out the last match. He was crucial in hitting two key sixes. The first showcased his capacity to hit spin as he struck Abrar down the ground. The second highlighted his good understanding of the game. He had watched Ashraf in the 19th over attempt to hide the ball outside the off stump. So, when he was back on strike, he made a noticeable movement across his stumps to position himself closer to the ball and hit it over wide long-on. Dube made 33 runs off 22 balls in a game-changing, match-winning partnership for the fifth wicket that accumulated 60 runs from 40 balls. He also had to start the bowling for the first time in any cricket format, ending up with figures of 3-0-23-0. It was an excellent day’s performance.

These three matches between India and Pakistan occurred amid much bigger events. Earlier this year, the two nations were involved in military combat. The players from both teams have not greeted each other. Furthermore, the captains have been dodging direct looks at one another. Rauf received a penalty for his gestures that hinted at the tensions between their countries. Jasprit Bumrah mimicked that gesture—his hand pointed downward in an arch toward the ground—to respond to Rauf after bowling him out with a yorker.

The tense environment has been taking attention away from the cricket, which intensified the situation. The coaches, Mike Hesson and Gautam Gambhir, refused to stay on the sidelines and sent out supportive messages as the situation became more critical. The score was 30 runs needed off 18 balls. Then it was 17 runs off 12. And finally, 10 runs off 6.

With eight runs required off five balls, Tilak hit a six over square leg, showing how well he had adapted to challenging batting conditions, while Rauf struggled again by increasing the ball's speed. Everything that followed will likely become a viral meme. Tilak making a heart symbol. Rinku Singh sprinting away. Gambhir hitting a table. This was an India-Pakistan showdown that was truly worth the 41-year wait for both teams to reach the Asia Cup final.