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.

At the time of filing this report, Colombo wore a sullen look and forecasts suggest the gloom will only deepen over the next 24 hours. Fingers will be crossed for the 16,000 Indian fans understood to have flown into the island nation for the marquee clash, as well as for the Pakistani and local supporters set to pack the 28,000-capacity R. Premadasa Stadium - not to mention the millions tuning in across the cricketing world.

"This game between India-Pakistan has always been a big magnitude match and will continue to remain so even in the future. We were prepared for everything, whether we got to play tomorrow's game or not. We can't do anything about rain. If the overs will be reduced, we know what we need to do," said Salman Agha, Pakistan captain about the uncertainty surrounding the contest.

As the captains often say on the eve of a game, there are only so many factors that are in their control. The weather is one of the great 'uncontrollables' - so too is the pitch, which at this venue has largely remained on the slower side, offering substantial turn. It's a contrast to the 'belter' that was initially expected and prepared for this big game.

It may yet turn out to be a high-scoring surface (the look of it from a distance appears so), contrary to the three matches seen so far at the venue in this World Cup, where totals have hovered in the 160-180 range. But again, that falls under the realm of the uncontrollables. Reading a pitch and predicting the weather have been hazardous exercises. That may sound like rhetorical excess, but it is not entirely an out-of-place assessment of the situation.

Among the controllables, however, are the pre and post-match handshakes between the sides, that have been suspended since the Asia Cup. Since the settlement of February 10, the key question has been whether these informal protocols will be restored during the match..

Pakistan's Salman Agha said the decision rests with India. His side, he hinted, is ready. There is chatter that the matter was among the sticking points during the back-channel parleys. "You will find out tomorrow that," Agha said on Saturday.

Meanwhile Suryakumar Yadav was more cryptic. "I will break the suspense tomorrow. Wait for 24 hours," the Indian captain said. "I just told him, we will play a good game and then after that. What is important right now, the game? Let's play first."

More than 5,000 kilometres away from the Premadasa Stadium, another India-Pakistan contest is scheduled for the day. The ACC Rising Stars women's teams of the arch-rivals will clash in Bangkok on Sunday, sans the rain threats, surface tensions and diplomatic discourse.

That match should have been completed well before the high-profile Colombo contest gets underway, and could offer an early indicator to how the pre-and post-match rituals will pan out in Colombo between the traditional rivals. More than that, of course, how and whether the match eventually pans out here will be of significant interest.

"I will break the suspense tomorrow. Wait for 24 hours," said Suryakumar Yadav. "I just told him, we will play a good game and then after that. What is important right now, the game? Let's play first."

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.

For India, there is unlikely to be any need for such counsel. While administrators from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the International Cricket Council and the Asian Cricket Council will all be present, the team's truest backing will come from the stands. More than half of the stadium is expected to be awash in blue. In a contest of such magnitude, that alone can feel like a decisive advantage.