Who said what - top 5 expert reactions to Tilak Varma's sensational knock in IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2025 final ft. Virender Sehwag 

India beat Pakistan by five wickets in the final of the Asia Cup on Sunday, September 28. Men in Blue's star of the show was young Tilak Varma, who led the way with a 53-ball 69 and took them home.

India were set a modest target of 147 but lost three early wickets inside four overs and were 77-4 at one stage. It was left to Varma and fellow southpaw Shivam Dube (33) to steer the Indians out of troubled waters and not give their arch-rivals any reasons to celebrate.

Apart from this duo, wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson also chipped in with a handy 24 that came off 21 deliveries. India beat Pakistan thrice in this edition of the tournament itself.

Varma, whose knock consisted of three boundaries and four sixes, received a lot of applause from experts, pundits and cricket lovers across the world. The Hyderabadi's calm demeanour and composed stature were much spoken about. In this listicle, we take a look at the top five expert reactions to Varma's knock:

#5 Krishnamachari Srikkanth

The 1983 ODI World Cup-winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth took to his YouTube channel to share his views on Varma. The explosive former opener mentioned that this knock will give the young batter a lot of confidence and help him become better.

Srikkanth, who also served as India's selector in the past, marvelled at Varma's ability to play well in a difficult situation against Pakistan. Srikkanth felt that the southpaw showed a lot of maturity and did not take any unnecessary risks at all.

"Tilak Varma has been crucial in this entire tournament. He has quietly played well in almost all matches. Tilak Varma will be a bigger batsman from now. He'll be better and bigger, having won India a match from this situation by taking responsibility. It wasn't just about scoring in a final but also scoring in a difficult situation to win the match against Pakistan," said Srikkanth.

"Tilak Varma batted at a different level. That first six off Faheem was unbelievable. He displayed incredible maturity, playing no unnecessary or risky shots. And he was assured about staying till the end and winning the game. This was one of the best knocks in a final, especially against Pakistan," he opined.

#4 Irfan Pathan

Former India speedster Irfan Pathan was all praise for Varma's knock during a discussion on Sony Sports. The all-rounder-turned-pundit felt that Varma had played the best knock of his career in this final against Pakistan.

The Baroda man opined that even though Varma has two centuries to his name in his T20I career, this knock will be remembered for ages. Pathan also said that the young man showed glimpses of former India captain Virat Kohli during this innings.

"Tilak Varma has played the best innings of his career. He has scored two centuries in T20I cricket, but he hasn't played a better innings than this. This is just a 69-run knock, but Tilak Varma would have never faced bigger pressure than this in his career, and he converted that into a big performance brilliantly," thought Pathan.

"It seemed at one stage that we would fall way behind. There, he played a Virat Kohli-type innings because Kohli used to do this job. He used to stand like a king in big games against Pakistan in such situations. This inning will be remembered for years," he added.

#3 Mohammad Kaif

Former India batter Mohammad Kaif, who is most fondly remembered for jointly winning the Men in Blue the Natwest Trophy final against England in 2002 with Yuvraj Singh, took to his YouTube channel to praise the maturity Varma showed.

Kaif, just like Pathan, felt that Varma showed glimpses of Kohli during this innings. The expert also addressed the issue surrounding the southpaw's relatively low strike rate, bringing up an incident in IPL 2025 when he was retired out by the Mumbai Indians.

"Tilak has played a lot with Virat Kohli. He has seen from that style; Kohli was a classical player who would take time and had a solid temperament. I see glimpses of Kohli in Tilak. He takes responsibility and is there under pressure. Notably, he reached his half-century in about 40 balls, not smashing from the start, but building the innings carefully and accelerating at just the right time. His temperament under pressure drew comparisons to Virat Kohli, especially for the ability to guide a chase in a high-stakes match," Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

"Kohli had hit two sixes to Haris Rauf in Melbourne and won the game; this was a similar knock. Tilak played in the same way here. There are many similarities. He took time and then went for the big shots. His fitness is brilliant as well. Tilak's name, but not Shreyas Iyer's name. People questioned why he was playing, as his strike rate was low. In his short international career, he has already made two hundreds. Just a few months back, he was even ‘retired out’ in an IPL match for slow scoring; today’s innings is a sensational comeback, as that is a very embarrassing moment for any player," he added.

#2 Abhishek Nayar

Former India batting coach Abhishek Nayar, who is now a pundit on Sony Sports, praised Varma's batting by mentioning that the Hyderabadi did not solely play the anchor's role, and got a few hits out of the way on the odd occasion as well.

The ex-India all-rounder mentioned that Varma paced his innings well and mixed boundaries with rotating the strike. Nayar said that this was an 'unbelievable' knock from Varma since India were way behind in the powerplay.

"The best thing was that it's not like he was playing an anchor's role only. At the right time, we were also discussing that a six or a four should be hit now, and at that time, he was listening to us and playing," Nayar said.

"It was a big game. There was pressure, and for the first time in this tournament, India were behind after six overs. So to make a comeback from there on a slow-turning pitch, targeting the right overs, I think it's an unbelievable knock," he observed.

#1 Virender Sehwag

Ex-India opener Virender Sehwag, in a discussion on Sony Sports, felt that Varma showed immense class to perform under pressure against an opponent as challenging as Pakistan on a slow pitch where shotmaking wasn't easy.

The 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup-winner explained that Varma played a calm brand of cricket in which he did not take any undue risks. The southpaw only played shots that were in his area, Sehwag mentioned.

"India were behind for sure. Three players had gotten out in the power play. However, it seemed like India could make a comeback after Tilak and Samson's partnership. We were discussing in commentary that Tilak Varma had to stay till the end if India had to win this Asia Cup final, and he did that only," said Sehwag.

"You rarely get to see such knocks. It was a big game, a final against Pakistan, and one batter played till the end and won the match. He played extremely cool and calm cricket. He played shots that were in his radar. He didn't take any undue risk," he elaborated.