Dubai: In the lead-up to the match, Pakistan had promised to play ‘fearless cricket’ regardless of the opposition. But under the blazing Dubai ring of fire, that fearlessness melted away. What followed was a familiar tale of tentativeness, as India’s arch-rivals stumbled to 127/9 after choosing to bat first on a sluggish surface in their Asia Cup Group ‘A’ clash on Sunday night. India made light work of the chase, romping home in just 15.5 overs for a commanding seven-wicket win. Abhishek Sharma set the tone early, smashing two towering sixes and four crisp boundaries in a whirlwind 31 off 13 balls. Tilak Verma (31 off 31) and Suryakumar Yadav (47 off 37; 5×4, 1×6) then added a solid 56-run stand for the third wicket to seal the result. For Surya, this was a personal milestone — his highest score against Pakistan in six outings, surpassing his previous best of 18. It was a proper schooling for Pakistan’s attack, as India showed that T20 batting is not just about brute power but also about building partnerships and pacing the chase. Earlier, India’s spin trio — Axar Patel (2/18), Kuldeep Yadav (3/18) and Varun Chakravarthy (1/24) — were irresistible, suffocating Pakistan’s innings with relentless accuracy. The batters looked caught between intent and survival, committing to rash strokes without a fallback plan. India’s grip on the game was underlined by the numbers — a staggering 62 dot balls, 41 of them bowled by the spinners, turning the middle overs into a chokehold from which Pakistan never escaped. Pakistan coach Mike Hesson had claimed before the match that his batters “had no problem reading spinners from the hand,” citing their success against Afghanistan in the recent tri-series. But the evidence on Sunday painted a very different picture — this was not just a defeat, it was a tactical outclassing. The lone bright spots came from Sahibzada Farhan’s battling 40 off 44 balls (1×4, 2×6) and Shaheen Shah Afridi’s late blitz — 33 off just 16 balls with four soaring sixes — which gave the total a hint of respectability. India struck right away. Hardik Pandya removed Saim Ayub off the very first legal delivery, with Jasprit Bumrah taking a sharp catch at backward point. In the next over, Bumrah had his turn, as Mohammad Haris miscued a skier straight to Hardik at backward square leg. Two wickets inside the first 12 deliveries left Pakistan tottering at 6/2, and from there the innings never recovered. Farhan briefly fought back, smashing Bumrah for two rare sixes — the first time any Pakistan batter had cleared him in 391 balls across white-ball formats — but his resistance was short-lived. Axar Patel’s clever variations did the rest, first dismissing Fakhar Zaman, who holed out to Tilak Varma, and then tying down skipper Salman Ali Agha with a series of dots before drawing a miscued sweep to deep square leg. Kuldeep, playing his maiden T20I against Pakistan, spun a web around the lower order, removing Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz and finally Farhan to leave Pakistan reeling at 83/7. Shaheen’s late fireworks spared Pakistan total humiliation, but 127 was always going to be at least 25 runs short on a ground where par hovers closer to 150.