Boycott averted, Pakistan and India set for World Cup blockbuster

Pakistan and India will clash in the Twenty20 World Cup in Colombo on Sunday, still feeling the aftershocks of a tumultuous fortnight in which Pakistan’s boycott threat - later reversed - nearly blew a hole in the tournament’s marquee fixture.

With bilateral cricket a casualty of their fraught relations, emotions run high whenever the bitter neighbours lock horns in multi-team events at neutral venues.

India’s strained relations with another neighbour, Bangladesh, have further tangled the geopolitics around the World Cup.

When Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland in the 20-team field for refusing to tour India over safety concerns, the regional chessboard shifted.

Pakistan decided to boycott the Group A contest against India in solidarity with Bangladesh, jeopardising a lucrative fixture that sits at the intersection of sport, commerce, and geopolitics.

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Faced with the prospect of losing millions of dollars in evaporating advertising revenue, the broadcasters panicked. The governing International Cricket Council (ICC) held hectic behind-the-scenes parleys and eventually brokered a compromise to salvage the tournament’s most sought-after contest.

Strictly on cricketing merit, however, the rivalry has been one-sided.

Defending champions India have a 7-1 record against Pakistan in the tournament’s history and they underlined that dominance at last year’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

India beat Pakistan three times in that single event, including a stormy final marred by provocative gestures and snubbed handshakes.

Former India captain Rohit Sharma does not believe in the “favourites” tag, especially when the arch-rivals clash.

“It’s such a funny game,” Rohit, who led India to the title in the T20 World Cup two years ago, recently said.

“You can’t just go and think that it’s a two-point victory for us. You just have to play good cricket on that particular day to achieve those points.”

India’s edge

Both teams have opened their World Cup campaigns with back-to-back wins, yet India still appear to hold a clear edge.

Opener Abhishek Sharma and spinner Varun Chakravarthy currently top the batting and bowling rankings respectively.

Abhishek is doubtful for the Pakistan match though as he continues to recover from a stomach infection that kept him out of their first two matches.

Ishan Kishan has reinvented himself as a top-order linchpin, skipper Suryakumar Yadav has regained form, while Rinku Singh has settled into the finisher’s role in India’s explosive lineup.

Mystery spinner Chakravarthy and the ever-crafty Jasprit Bumrah anchor the spin and pace units, while Hardik Pandya’s all-round spark is pivotal.

For Pakistan, opener Sahibzada Farhan has looked in fine form but Babar Azam’s strike rate continues to polarise opinion.

Captain Salman Agha will bank on spin-bowling all-rounder Saim Ayub, but the potential trump card is off-spinner Usman Tariq, whose slinging, side-arm action has intrigued opponents and fans alike.