DUBAI: The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) is confident that the high-voltage Pakistan-India clash at the Asia Cup will go ahead.

The neighbours have been at loggerheads since a terrorist attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam sparked a brief war and saw the cricketing relations between the two nations nose-dive.

Recently, two World Championship of Legends fixtures between the two countries were called off as the India Champions players decided not to play against their Pakistan counterparts.

The Asia Cup was originally scheduled to be staged in India but was shifted to the UAE due to tensions between the two countries.

India and Pakistan have been drawn in the same group at the Asia Cup. With a Super Four phase and a final to follow, it is possible they could face each other three times in Dubai between September 14 and 28.

And with just over a month remaining before the start of the tournament, ECB Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmed has suggested that it is highly unlikely that the two teams would avoid playing each other in the Asia Cup.

“We can’t make any guarantees, but comparing the Asia Cup against a private event like the WCL is not a like comparison,” Subhan was quoted as saying by The National newspaper.

“When decisions to play in the Asia Cup are taken, government permissions are taken in advance. That has definitely been done before arriving at the decision of announcing the schedule for the countries. So hopefully we won’t be in a situation as there was at the WCL.”

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2025