Pakistan/India won the toss and chose to bat/bowl first in the Asia Cup fixture against Pakistan/India at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
An India-Pakistan cricket match is always a blockbuster, but emotions are running even higher as the nuclear-armed neighbours 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.
India, the reigning 20-over world champions, are firm favourites to retain their Asia Cup title and are determined not to let geopolitics derail their campaign.
India appear by far the strongest side in the eight-team tournament, having reinforced themselves with the selection of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and top order batter Shubman Gill.
They were ruthless in their nine-wicket demolition of the United Arab Emirates, whom they routed for 57 in 13.1 overs before returning to chase down the target in 27 balls on Thursday.
Pakistan also opened their account with an easy victory against Oman but their batting has been rather inconsistent.
Pakistan are without former skippers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan but will take heart from winning a T20 tri-series in UAE, also involving Afghanistan, before heading into the Asia Cup.
This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.
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