It was a contest between India vs India

Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh hailed the Men in Blue for their memorable win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 final in Dubai on September 28. Despite chasing only 147 for victory, Team India got into early trouble at 20/3 after four overs.

However, Tilak Varma led their comeback, with valuable support from Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, helping India pull off a final-over victory. It was India’s eighth consecutive win over Pakistan across formats, dating back to 2022.

Talking about the thrilling final, Harbhajan told Sports Today (1:34):

“This is how you win matches and tournaments. It goes to show how well-prepared the Indian team is. Forget about Pakistan, here it was just a competition between India vs India and how well India can play. If India play to 60% of their potential, no team would come close to India. Today India were slightly on the edge in the first six overs but great to see the youngsters lifting the burden on their shoulders and taking the team through.”

It was India’s record-extending ninth Asia Cup title and their second in the T20I format. Suryakumar Yadav’s men won all seven outings, including three against Pakistan, in the 2025 Asia Cup.

“This team has earned their place at the top of the table” – Harbhajan Singh

Harbahjan Singh believes the current Indian side is the best in the world in the T20I format after their latest triumph in the 2025 Asia Cup. The Men in Blue have won an incredible 35 out of their last 38 T20Is since the start of 2024, including the T20 World Cup last year.

“They did tremendously well in South Africa. So I’ll say this team has earned their place at the top of the table. And the teams that are in competition with them are Australia, England and South Africa but definitely not Pakistan. Beating South Africa in South Africa is not easy,” said Harbhajan Singh (via the aforementioned source).

He continued:

“The more they play, these talented youngsters will evolve. I can already see the maturity in someone like Tilak with this kind of an innings. You don’t usually see this from a youngster. But you see that there is a method behind it on how he paced his innings.”

Team India’s last series defeat in a bilateral or multi-nation tournament came back in the West Indies in the 2023 season.