A Pakistan-India cricket match is always a blockbuster, but emotions will run even higher in Sunday’s Asia Cup clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who engaged in a four-day military conflict earlier this year.
Even before the clashes in May, which nearly escalated into a full-blown war, bilateral cricket ties were suspended. The arch-rivals now play each other only in multi-team tournaments.
Political relations have deteriorated further since the clashes, with several former Indian players urging the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to boycott what will be the first meeting between the teams since the recent hostilities.
While the threat of a boycott is over, sparks may fly with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha and his Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav ruling out dialling down aggression in the much-anticipated Group A fixture.
While reigning T20 world champions India are the firm favourites to retain their title, Pakistan are on a high, having convincingly beaten Afghanistan to win the final of a tri-series and Oman in the lead-up to the contest.
India, the winners of the last ODI Asia Cup in 2023, are determined not to let geopolitics derail their campaign.
“Once the BCCI said they are aligned with the government, we are here to play,” India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told reporters on Friday.
“Once we are here to play, I think players are focused on playing cricket. I personally don’t think they have anything in mind apart from playing cricket, and that’s what we focus on.”
Pakistan coach Mike Hesson also wants his team to stay focused, though the significance of the match is not lost on him.
“Being part of a highly-charged event is going to be exciting,” the New Zealander said this week. “From my perspective … it is about keeping everybody focused on the job at hand. That will be no different.
“We know India are obviously hugely confident and rightfully so. But we are very much focused on improving as a team day by day and not getting ahead of ourselves.”
Pakistan who opened their account with an thumping victory against Oman are without former skippers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan but will take heart from winning a T20 tri-series in the UAE, also involving Afghanistan, before heading into the Asia Cup.
“We have been playing good cricket in the last two to three months, and we just have to play good cricket,” Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said on Friday. “If we can execute our plans for a long enough period, we are good enough to beat any team.”
India appears to be the strongest side in the eight-team tournament, having reinforced itself with the selection of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and top-order batter Shubman Gill.
They were ruthless in their nine-wicket demolition of the United Arab Emirates, whom they routed for 57 in 13.1 overs before returning to chase down the target in 27 balls on Thursday.