Three successive Sundays featuring matches involving India and Pakistan are a broadcaster’s windfall dream. This rare cricketing high will be played out when the sub-continental rivals clash in the Asia Cup final at Dubai this Sunday (September 28, 2025). Interestingly, since its inception from 1984, the continental tournament never featured an India-Pakistan summit clash. However, the latest prelude remains dull as the contests over the last two weekends lacked sporting thrills even if the political tension almost bordered on the ‘war minus the shooting’ trope. Suryakumar Yadav’s men overwhelmingly dominated the jousts, yet dimmed their glory as they remained churlish and refused the customary handshake with the opposition, a tradition innate to the willow game and other sports. The Pahalgam terror strike and the resultant Operation Sindoor are part of the backdrop, but if India felt strongly about playing against its western neighbour, then the protest could have been registered by refusing to turn up for these particular games. But walking into the park, playing the match and still refusing to respect the game’s behavioural protocols do not reflect well on the Indian unit. That there is no escaping the nationalism bandwagon and the ensuing domestic pressures was evident in the manner in which some of the Pakistani players gesticulated.