Pakistani spinner Saad Masood struck first against India A when he dismissed Naman Dheer and was seen giving him a rousing farewell. The Pakistani spinner looked very excited with this success.
The India-Pakistan dispute resurfaced as the two teams met on an international stage for the first time since the 2025 Asia Cup final. Although not the main teams, the match was between India A and Pakistan Shaheens, two teams participating in the ACC Men’s Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament.
The Asia Cup trophy dispute remains unresolved, as does the tension between the two giants of the game. When former cricketers from India and Pakistan met at the Hong Kong Sixes tournament, they were not seen shaking hands or maintaining friendly etiquette.
Saad Masood’s bad farewell to Indian player reignites controversy
India A were once again inspired by the brilliance of 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who scored a record-breaking 144 against UAE in the opening game of the tournament. The left-handed batsman once again gave India a flying start, despite the surface being poor and the spinners getting a lot of help.
Maintaining his shape and relying on his versatility with a wide range of shots, he contributed to a 49-run partnership with Naman Dheer. Dheer also looked quite calm on the number. 3, as he played Pakistan’s spinners with ease till the 9th over of the game.
Midway through the 9th over, a ball bounced outside the off-stump line unfortunately went straight into the hands of the extra-cover fielder by Dheer after he was completely out to spinner Saad Masood.
However, the off-spinner looked quite happy with his dismissal and bid farewell to the Indian batsman, pointing his long fingers towards the dugout and asked him to get out. Dhir did not escalate the matter, but looked surprised by the unwanted anger.
celebration pic.twitter.com/mvp7vQ1GEs
– Abdullah (@Rflx_56_) 16 November 2025
India A struggles with the bat against Pakistan Shaheen
After Dheer’s wicket, India’s score was 79/2 and then the massive collapse began. Vaibhav Suryavanshi was out after scoring 45 runs in 28 balls and Sufiyan Muqeem with all his experience dodged him and dismissed him.
After Suryavanshi’s dismissal, India A took 29 balls to find the boundary. All-rounder Maaz Sadaqat’s excellent left-arm spin has tightened the noose on the India A team.
Even Indian captain Jitesh Sharma, who played a stormy innings of 83, had a lofted effort off the ball and Nehal Wadhera went after him after being stumped off a ball that went away.
The all-rounder finished with some notable figures of 2/12 from his 3 overs, while Shahid Aziz remained the pick of the bowlers with 3/24 from his 3 overs. Masood had 2 wickets to his name, while all others took one wicket each. India were out for 136 runs without completing their quota of 20 overs.
Maaz Sadaqat’s top innings leads Pakistan to easy win
On a surface where scoring runs looked quite challenging, the Pakistan all-rounder came through with another burst of brilliance. Maaz Sadaqat opened the innings and from the very first ball it seemed that he had made up his mind to attack the Indian bowlers.
Nehal Wadhera gave him another chance when he dropped him to backward point while the batsman continued his attack on the Indian bowlers, especially Suyash Sharma. After dismissing Suyyash Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi dropped him again for 54 runs.
In the end, a big controversy broke out again when Jitesh Sharma even argued with the field umpire over Nehal Wadhera’s brilliant effort. The umpire did not consider it a six nor declared the batsman out; Rather he considered it a dot ball. Sadaqat scored an unbeaten 79 runs and was declared player of the match.
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