After weeks of back-channel diplomacy, night-long negotiations, nudges from the International Cricket Council chair and even governmental intervention, the much-hyped India-Pakistan fixture risks becoming a non-event anyway – just as it had threatened to be before the midnight settlement of February 10. This time, though, the obstacle isn’t politics but weather: a late northeast-monsoon spillover, with showers forecast to sweep across Colombo during Sunday night’s match window.
An India-Pakistan contest, however, is never just about the result – nor merely the pre- and post-match rituals, the hype or the layered narratives around it. Word is that Mohsin Naqvi, the central figure in much of the controversy and uncertainty surrounding this fixture, has already arrived in Colombo. He is expected to spend time with the Pakistan squad this evening in what is being described as an effort to “lift” spirits – particularly of a side that has rarely found success against India in recent years.