India, Pakistan meet in the furnace of Dubai

The first request was not a question at all.

"Ryan, can you come closer to the mic please?"

Ryan ten Doeschate leaned in, shifting slightly under the glare of a press room fuller and noisier than usual. The assistant coach of India's cricket team, a former allrounder from the Netherlands better known for his cricket than for grand pronouncements, must have known this press conference would not just be about combinations and tactics.

On the eve of India's Asia Cup clash with Pakistan, he was confronted with questions that swirled beyond the boundary rope: Had India prepared differently for Pakistan? How was this match different from other India-Pakistan games?

The answers hardly mattered. What mattered was the reminder that India vs Pakistan is never just about cricket. Ten doeschate said what he could. Yes, the players felt compassion, but they would put it aside. No, preparations had not been any different. No illusions about being favourites either.

That was enough to capture the essence: this contest pulls everyone in. Players, coaches, administrators, governments, and in this case, even a city like Dubai at the peak of its summer. Whether the cricket in the middle can match that intensity, though, is not a guarantee.

India are a far stronger side at the moment: across formats, across conditions. Especially in T20Is, where they have finally