‘Not Pakistan’: The Mindset Shreyas Iyer Took Into Asian Games Final

India beat Pakistan in an Asian Games final with the whole country watching. According to captain Shreyas Iyer, the team's biggest weapon wasn't a tactical plan built around the opponent - it was refusing to treat them as one at all.

Asked directly how much India's dominant recent head-to-head record against Pakistan factored into the mental approach heading into the final, Iyer was unambiguous about what he told his players. "It is definitely a huge occasion when you're playing against Pakistan in the final; the whole country is watching, and you have that kind of pressure...

"But I said to my team, let's not get overwhelmed by the occasion; we need to stick to what we've been doing, and even though we didn't get much opportunity to practice, today was the right opportunity for us to show our character and attitude, and every individual displayed that on the field."

The Mindset Behind India's Approach to Every Final

That same philosophy came up again when Iyer was asked what single thing he wanted the team to get right heading into the match. Rather than naming a specific tactical focus, he pushed back on the premise of the question entirely. "If you want to lift the final, if you want to lift the trophy, if you want to lift the medal, everything has to be right; you cannot focus on what you have to do right.

"I personally feel that the preparation and the process which we followed coming into the final mattered the most, so it's not that we had to do something different; we were just playing an opponent in our mind, not Pakistan or Sri Lanka; that doesn't matter, if we played to the best of our abilities, everything else follows, and today was the right example of that, and we lived up to it."

Playing Through Constant Rain and Barely Any Practice

Iyer was candid about just how disrupted India's preparation had been heading into the tournament. "I personally feel that we are a professional bunch of players, and all we want to do is come and play as long as possible. It doesn't matter what the conditions are, what facilities we get, because the eventual goal is to win, and today we won that game, and I'm elated by each and every individual performance, stepping up to this occasion where we knew that it was raining constantly and the practice sessions were very limited. So, we tried to make the best use of what we could get over here, and we could definitely see the result."

He returned to the same point when asked about the broader feeling of winning gold in such compromised conditions: "We had an exhilarating game today, and I feel that for this moment, a lot of players, athletes, wait to don that gold medal, and today we got this opportunity, so everyone's contribution was important for this victory, and as I said earlier, our practice session didn't go that well, but still, we used as many limited facilities as we could, and no one reasoned it. So, combining all that, you got the result."

Crediting a Score He Called "Exceptional" on an Unpredictable Wicket

Asked whether the team felt pressure in the closing overs, Iyer pointed to the difficulty of batting first on an unfamiliar surface as the context for why 211 mattered so much. "It was a very competitive game, I would say. The way we played, set that total 215, was phenomenal effort by each and every one to get on this wicket, especially where it was turning, and you basically don't have an idea how the wicket is going to play.

"So, considering that, I feel 215 was an exceptional score, and the way they were also cruising after a point where they got the momentum, and then suddenly, you know, a couple of sixes, they were cruising very well. So, overall I would say it was a brilliant performance by both the teams, it's just that they fell short, and the way we stuck with our line and length, it was tremendous."

A Different Kind of Pressure Than Any World Cup

Iyer also reflected on what made winning gold at the Asian Games a genuinely different experience compared to the tournaments he's already won with India. "It's very different, because you come to a country where the cricket is not worshipped that much, and even though the country is very beautiful, we loved it when we arrived, because the discipline and the amount of culture this country has, it is something to learn from... When you come to Asian Games, you are expected to win, obviously as an Indian team, and also the facilities, as I mentioned, it's limited, but you got to maximize for whatever you get. So, we had this at the back of our mind, and at the same time, I feel that every individual is certainly responsible for what we have done today, and yes, it was a great experience for us overall."

**Following India's Other Athletes From Afar**

Asked if he'd followed how other Indian athletes were performing across the Games, Iyer described genuine interest despite logistical limits. "We've been hearing a lot about all the sports, I talked about the squash player, the prodigy, she won gold as well, and today... the hockey team, they are playing the final against Malaysia, so we keep interacting about which matches, but all of them were like an hour away from our hotel, so it was a bit difficult for us to go, because we also wanted to focus on our recovery." He extended that into some broader reflection on competing at a multi-sport event alongside athletes from other disciplines: "Every individual is working hard towards success, but even if you don't get it, it's important that you keep building your confidence level... As long as you're staying in the present, you're enjoying the moment, everything else will follow."

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**How the Final Actually Played Out**

India posted 211/6 at Karogi Athletic Park, built on Abhishek Sharma's explosive 61 off 28 and an unbeaten 51 off 22 from Tilak Varma, who finished the innings. Pakistan fought back through Hasan Nawaz's 96, which kept them alive until the very last over, but India held on to win by 19 runs - successfully defending the title they won in Hangzhou in 2023, and extending their head-to-head lead over Pakistan in T20 cricket to 15-3. The win also meant India swept both the men's and women's cricket gold medals at these Games, matching their clean sweep from the previous edition.