Emotions run high in today’s Asia Cup clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who engaged in a four-day military conflict earlier this year.
Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat in their high-intensity encounter against India in Dubai on Sunday.
An India-Pakistan cricket match is always a blockbuster, but emotions will run even higher in today’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 had been 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 to boycott what will be the first meeting between the teams since the recent hostilities.
Both teams are unchanged since their last encounters in the tournament.
Pakistan batter Saim Ayub said on Saturday that the team was not just focusing on the Pakistan-India match, but winning the men’s Asia Cup.
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.
The two teams last faced each other in February, in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in the ODI format.
The eight-nation T20 tournament began on Tuesday with Afghanistan beating Hong Kong by 94 runs. India crushed the hosts, the UAE, by nine wickets on Wednesday.
Pakistan, India, Oman and UAE are in Group A, while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Bangladesh form Group B.
The top two teams from each Group will qualify for the Super Four stage.
The top two teams will then play the September 28 final in Dubai.
Teams:
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, and Abrar Ahmed.
India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Verma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah.