India and Pakistan meet in Asia Cup 2025 on September 14 in Dubai
Rashid Latif says Pakistan lose by letting emotions dictate play
He sees India’s lack of recent T20Is as their main weakness
The Asia Cup 2025’s Group A match between India and Pakistan, scheduled for Sunday in Dubai, comes against a backdrop of a diplomatic strain. The neighbouring nations haven’t played a bilateral series in over a decade; their clashes have been limited to multilateral tournaments like the ACC and ICC events.
After the Pahalgam terror attack earlier this year, tensions escalated further. Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif says these factors mean Pakistan often starts under pressure when facing India. On paper, India enters the match as favourites. They carry momentum after a commanding opening win in Asia Cup 2025. Pakistan, meanwhile, have been sharpened by recent spin-friendly conditions in tri-series competition.
Rashid Latif On Pakistan’s Emotional Hurdles
Rashid Latif believes one of the main reasons Pakistan lose more often than not to India is that “they let their emotions get better of them during these high-pressure matches.” According to him, in matches against India, Pakistan play with impulse, trying to win everything quickly rather than building innings, adapting to pitch and conditions.
“We get emotional or hyper and try to do everything in one go. We don’t take the games deep against India and because of this, Pakistan lose most of the time. India on the other hand play according to the pitch and match situation and that’s why they succeed,” Latif said in an interview with PTI Videos.
India’s Weakness According To Latif
While praising India’s strengths, their batting depth, bowlers, and discipline, Latif also flagged a possible vulnerability. India haven’t played a T20I since their series versus England in February. He suggests this gap might affect rhythm, match sharpness, or adaptability in the T20 format, especially when facing Pakistan, who have had more recent match practice in T20s.
"The only disadvantage in India is that they have not played T20Is. They must be playing warm-up matches or practicing. But they have not played any match. This may be a disadvantage,” Latif said. However, India's opening match of the Asia Cup 2025 told something different. They dismissed UAE on 57 runs and chased the target in just 4.3 overs. So the contest is going to be pretty tough for the Men in Green on Sunday.
