By Admin 
Customary handshakes have been refused. Complaints against a match referee have been lodged and rejected. Provocative gestures have caused an uproar. Post-match remarks have been construed as political rhetoric. Disciplinary hearings have been held. Press conferences have been cancelled. A match has been delayed.
In light of the strained diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan, aggravated by the cross-border conflict in May in the wake of a terror attack in Pahalgam, the 17th edition of the Asia Cup has witnessed one flashpoint after another. Now with a title on the line, the neighbours will meet for the third time in this year’s continental showpiece at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
The theatrics over the past three weeks have ensured that the excitement around Sunday’s final, remarkably the first instance of the two-arch rivals meeting in the summit clash in the tournament’s four-decade history, is just about intact. Never mind that the previous two face-offs in this event led to one-sided wins for India.
As the head-to-head record testifies, India has marched ahead in the past two decades. In 15 T20Is between these teams since the first in 2007, the current T20 World Cup champion has won 12. It has also emerged victorious in each of their last seven white-ball meetings. Pakistan, on the other hand, would prefer to emphasise on a 8-4 record in finals of white-ball tournaments.
Recent dominance manifested in Suryakumar Yadav’s assertion after India’s six-wicket win in the Super Four stage that this was no longer a rivalry. “According to me, if two teams play 15-20 matches and if [head-to-head] it is 7-7 or 8-7, then that is called a rivalry. But 13-0, 10-1… I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore,” Suryakumar declared.
For Pakistan to prove otherwise, Salman Agha’s men will not just have to play out of their skin but also hope for India to be off-colour.
Pakistan coach Mike Hesson did take heart from his team being competitive in the Super Four defeat to India last weekend. But ultimately, even a target of 172 was chased down comfortably with seven balls to spare. Abhishek Sharma was the architect with the bat on that occasion, and will again hold the aces given his sublime form.
There was a slight cause for concern in India’s Super Over win against Sri Lanka on Friday when the opener clutched his thigh and walked off the field in the 10th over of the second innings. Hardik Pandya, too, spent a major chunk of the innings in the dressing room after feeling his hamstring during his opening over. India bowling coach Morne Morkel put it down to cramps.
“We’ll assess Hardik and we’ll make a call on that. Both of them struggled with cramps during the game. Abhishek is fine,” Morkel said on Friday night.
On the eve of the final, cricketing logic emphatically points to another win for the Men in Blue. Can Pakistan, in keeping with its mercurial disposition, upset the odds?The teams (from):
The teams (from): India: Suryakumar Yadav (Capt.), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Pakistan: Salman Agha (Capt.), Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.
Match starts at 8 p.m. IST