Kuldeep Yadav wrecks Pakistan middle order, makes history at Asia Cup 2025

India’s star spinner Kuldeep Yadav once again proved why he’s a match-winner, using all his experience and guile in the Asia Cup final to turn the tide against Pakistan. At one stage, Pakistan looked in complete control at 113/2 and were cruising towards a 180-plus total. But Kuldeep’s magic changed everything.

The wrist-spinner ran through Pakistan’s middle order, taking four wickets to restrict them to just 146. In the process, he also etched his name into the record books by surpassing Sri Lankan legend Lasith Malinga’s record for most wickets in Asia Cup history (ODIs + T20Is combined).

Kuldeep had entered the final with 31 wickets in the tournament’s history. By dismissing Salman Ali Agha for his second scalp, he went past Malinga’s tally of 32 and eventually finished the night with 36 wickets from 18 matches. His fiery spell of 4/30, capped with two wickets in his final over—removing Shaheen Afridi and Faheem Ashraf—sealed Pakistan’s collapse.


Most wickets in Asia Cups (ODIs + T20Is):

Kuldeep Yadav – 36 wickets in 18 matches

Lasith Malinga – 33 wickets in 15 matches

Muttiah Muralitharan – 30 wickets in 24 matches

Ravindra Jadeja – 29 wickets in 26 matches

Shakib Al Hasan – 28 wickets in 25 matches

From cruising to crashing, Pakistan had no answers to Kuldeep’s spin storm.