Kuldeep Yadav led the charge as India restricted Pakistan to 127-9 in a key Asia Cup clash on Sunday as the two countries met on the pitch for the first time since a military conflict between them in May.
Electing to bat first in Dubai, Pakistan lost two early wickets and suffered from a lack of partnerships until an unbeaten cameo of 33 from Shaheen Shah Afridi put some sheen on their total.
Spinners Kuldeep and Axar Patel shared five wickets between them.
Hardik Pandya struck in the first over to dismiss opener Saim Ayub for a golden duck and fellow quick Jasprit Bumrah sent back wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Haris for three.
Sahibzada Farhan, who top-scored with 40, attempted to rebuild the innings along with Fakhar Zaman, who made 17, in a partnership of 39.
Axar broke the stand with his left-arm spin as he got Zaman caught out and in his next over had skipper Salman Agha out for three.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep joined forces and struck twice on successive balls to pack off Hasan Nawaz (5) and Mohammad Nawaz (0) as Pakistan slipped to 64-6 inside 13 overs.
Wickets kept tumbling, but Afridi took on the opposition attack with four sixes in his 16-ball blitz to push the total past 100 and play out their full 20 overs.
India resisted calls to boycott the T20 clash between the nations, who have not played in any bilateral series since deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008 were blamed on Pakistan militants.
The hostilities in May this year left more than 70 people dead in missile, drone and artillery exchanges, before a ceasefire.
TOSS
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the high-voltage clash between the two nations in Group A of the Asia Cup 2025.
The Indian side, captained by Suryakumar Yadav, remains unchanged from their opening game. Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands nor make eye contact with his Pakistani counterpart.
India comes into this match after a dominant win in their opener against the UAE. Pakistan, too, have momentum following a strong win over Oman.
This is the first time the two nations meet after the recent geopolitical tension following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent Operation SIndoor by India. There have also been calls to boycott the match. However, the sports minister had affirmed India's participation.
Playing XI
India
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
Pakistan
Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammed Haris, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (captain), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed