The cricket-mad South Asian neighbors have a bitter history, punctuated by violence and wars. It makes this one of the fiercest, and most financially lucrative, rivalries in sports.

The Pakistan captain did not disclose whether his side would shake hands with India, but called for the game to take centre stage

The recent trend and the gulf in quality between players from both sides only suggest that India have clearly turned this once high-voltage encounter into a mere formality.

After weeks of debate about whether Pakistan's fixture against India would go ahead at the T20 World Cup, the action failed to deliver and it left the rivalry feeling more political than sporting.

Farhan hits 100 off 58 balls as Pakistan post 199-3 Watch Farhan's best bits Pakistan win toss and bat first in Colombo Pakistan need victory to retain hopes of Super 8s Namibia already eliminated Read: 'It smacks of England' - Australia fail again at T20 World Cup by Adwaidh Rajan & Millie Sian Another well-bowled over from Bernard Scholtz.