Salman Ali Agha openly blames Haris Rauf for Pakistan’s loss to India in Asia Cup 2025 final

Months after the Asia Cup 2025 final, the captain of the Pakistan cricket team, Salman Ali Agha, still regrets his one decision, which might have cost them the final match and the title.

Speaking on the ARY podcast, Salman Ali Agha stated that handing the ball to the pacer Haris Rauf for the final over was a blunder; the result could have been different if he had asked the spinner Abrar Ahmed to deliver the final over of the Asia Cup 2025 final.

India won the Asia Cup 2025 in the final over of the game

On September 28, 2025, India and Pakistan faced each other at the Dubai International Stadium for the final of the Asia Cup 2025. In 20 overs, Pakistan posted 146 runs, batting first. On paper, the total looked below par to challenge a heavyweight team like India, especially in the shortest format of the game.

But, with the help of the conditions, Pakistan dragged the match to the very last over. In the 20^th over of the second innings, Team India needed 10 runs in 6 balls to claim the trophy. The fall of Shivam Dube in the 19^th over made the contest more interesting.

Rinku Singh joined a well-set Tilak Varma in the middle. Tilak was unbeaten for 60 off 50 ahead of the 20^th over of the second innings. For the decisive over, Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha had two options, either to preserve Abrar Ahmed for the closing moment of the game, or to choose Haris Rauf. Agha picked Rauf, and that’s probably the mistake, at least Agha himself thinks so after all these months.

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I must have made a lot of mistakes: Salman Ali Agha

In the podcast, Agha expressed that Rauf was their frontline pacer, so he decided to go with him to wrap things up in style. But Rauf did not bowl well that night. On the other side, Abrar Ahmed concluded his 4-over spell, taking a wicket and an economy rate of 7.25, while Rauf conceded an economy of 13.64 in his 3.4-over spell.

“I must have made a lot of mistakes. If our results are not good, I must have made mistakes. But I think if I had continued with Abrar Ahmed in the final of the Asia Cup, the result of the game could have been different,” Salman Ali Agha said in the podcast.

“But if you look at the other side, I gave Haris the over. Because he was our main bowler in that match, he couldn't have executed well. But if I had continued with Abrar, the result could have been different,” Salman Ali Agha added.

Salman Ali Agha praised the Indian bowling efforts

After the match, Agha said in the presentation ceremony that the Indian bowlers made a huge difference in the game, and Pakistan could have made a huge difference in their batting as well. In his comments, the skipper of Pakistan did not blame any of his bowlers for the loss.

“It is a tough pill to swallow right now. But I think we did not finish well with the bat. And bowling, I think we were outstanding. We gave everything. But yeah, if we could have finished well, it could have been a different story. I think we couldn't rotate the strike properly. And then we, I think, lost too many wickets at times. So I think that was the reason we couldn't score what we wanted. And they (Team India) bowled really well,” Agha said after the match.

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