COLOMBO (Kashmir English): Pakistan and India will meet in the T20 World Cup blockbuster in Colombo today.
With sports like cricket a casualty of the fraught relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, emotions run high whenever they lock horns in multi-nation events at neutral venues.
India’s strained relations with another neighbour, Bangladesh, have further blemished the global events like T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland in the 20-team tournament for refusing to tour India over safety concerns.
Pakistan then decided to boycott the Group A contest against India in solidarity with Bangladesh, risking the fixture that sits at the intersection of sport, geopolitics and more important revenue.
The broadcasters panicked as they feared losing millions of dollars in advertising revenue. The International Cricket Council (ICC) held hectic behind-the-scenes talks and eventually brokered a compromise to salvage the tournament’s most sought-after game.
India-Pakistan T20 World Cup head-to-head
Defending champions India have a 7-1 record against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup history.
Both sides opened their World Cup campaigns with back-to-back wins, India still appears to hold a clear edge.
India’s opener Abhishek Sharma and spinner Varun Chakravarthy currently top the batting and bowling rankings, respectively.
Abhishek is, however, doubtful for the Pakistan match as he continues to recover from a stomach infection that kept him out of their first two matches as well.
For Pakistan, opener Sahibzada Farhan looks in fine form. Captain Salman Agha will bank on spin-bowling all-rounder Saim Ayub, but the potential trump card is off-spinner Usman Tariq.
