India rehearse chaos, Pakistan add uncertainty

 One of India's fielding drills has been to stare straight into the floodlights while the ball is in the air and then try to catch it. The idea is to "feel the panic" of losing sight of the ball and still believe that it's possible to complete the catch.

They have practiced the drill with old balls and new, and the principle has been the same across disciplines. They have shuffled batting orders to the extent of sending Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh ahead of captain Suryakumar, asked fast bowlers to patrol point and tossed the ball to part-timers in key phases. Even the spinners have been rotated without a set pattern. The idea: rehearse chaos, inject randomness, be ready for whatever comes.

India have tried to rehearse the unpredictable but there are things you can't prepare for. Like the paraphernalia of an India-Pakistan game. The noise that seeps in despite Suryakumar's best effort to cut it down by "70-80%" by deleting apps, closing the room, switching off the phone and going to sleep. The 20-30% that filters through is still overwhelming. This, T Dilip can't train the team for.

The last time these sides met in this Asia Cup, the cricket itself seemed secondary. Awkwardness lingered before the fixture, bitterness after it. Since then, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has carried its standoff with the ICC over Andy Pycroft, who remains the match referee for this Super Four fixture.

This meeting, too, comes wrapped in certainty and doubt. Certain, because it is on the schedule, in Dubai again, with India stronger on paper. Uncertain, because it's Pakistan and they can turn it on. To go with it, they cancelled their pre-match press conference and the last time they did that at this Asia Cup, they nearly didn't turn up and the match had to be delayed by an hour.