India vs Pakistan, minus the fervour

It's been an uneasy build-up to round one of India vs Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. The mood around the match seems more complicated than it appears, and everyone, including the players, can sense that.

Each of the first four press conferences so far in the Asia Cup 2025, barring the one with India bowling coach Morne Morkel, has invariably circled back to this match, with a rider: "sentiment back home" under the current geopolitical climate since the Pahalgam attacks and the subsequent military skirmish.

One of the most natural responses for players, or support staff, has been to say that they're not on social media. But can it really be possible to zone out completely, especially when there are calls for a boycott from certain quarters in India?

All the while, the BCCI has simply reiterated the Indian government's stance on the issue: bilateral cricket is off the table, but multi-nation tournaments can proceed as usual. This is despite sections of the country believing the sporting rivalry shouldn't exist as long as geopolitical relations remain as strained as they are currently.

And that anger often finds itself turning into torrents of online hate and vitriol, like it is now. And it's perhaps knowing all this, that players have walked a tightrope while preparing for the biggest game of the tournament.

They've had to ensure there is no room for words or gestures to be magnified, perhaps even more so, after a handshake between Suryakumar Yadav and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi at the captains' press conference was clipped, replayed and debated. Similarly, there's no telling how a simple moment could be scrutinised next. Like a laugh shared by the captains at the toss, for instance, could be replayed, slowed down and analysed frame by frame on social media, and perhaps even on news TV.

This kind of scrutiny has already had an impact. Barely two months ago, a group of recently-retired Indian stars withdrew from a legends' game in England on the very morning they were scheduled to face Shahid Afridi's Pakistan team. It's hard to imagine they would have been unaware of the participation of the Pakistani team when they had originally signed up for the tournament.

India vs Pakistan is usually the heartbeat of a tournament. The contests are still half-jokingly being called a two-match series, maybe even three, at the Asia Cup. It's a match-up that is supposed to bring everything else to a grind for the passion it sparks among fans. Yet it feels very different this time.

As such, bilateral cricket has been frozen for 13 years, and so the rare meetings at ICC tournaments and Asia Cups should feel festive. But this time it feels empty, because when you have to work to sell an India-Pakistan Sunday showdown in Dubai - a fixture that sells itself most times - you know something has shifted.

Despite all this, the organisers remain optimistic. They're trying to pull out all their trump cards - bundling, unbundling of tickets, ramping up digital and social media campaigns, and pushing the premium seats that usually sell like hot cakes. There's still a quiet confidence that Sunday will still see a respectable crowd. 'Respectable' being the buzz word.

When Sachin Tendulkar says he couldn't sleep the night before the famous World Cup game at Centurion in 2003, you could almost imagine him replaying Wasim Akram's left-arm angle, Waqar Younis' yorkers and Shoaib Akhtar's bouncers.

Similarly, on the day of the 2011 World Cup semi-final in Mohali, the team was running purely on adrenaline, with Tendulkar having to make an impassioned speech on how delayed catering resulting in no lunch should make them hungrier on the field.

Whether that kind of electricity courses through Suryakumar & co is known only to them. But one thing you can be certain of: the atmosphere will be filtered through a magnifying lens - every handshake, laugh, glance, celebration, send-off having the potential to become a story.

Despite all this there's still an inkling of hope that the old magic and excitement will be back for those four hours, and cricket becomes the story when they take the field on Sunday. Only time will tell if that's indeed the case.