New Delhi, August 20 (IANS) After two years of delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a shift in venue due to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, the Asia Cup is finally going to happen in the UAE from August 27 to September 11.

What makes this year's tournament, to be held in the T20 format in Dubai and Sharjah, special is that it will also mark the return of the greatest rivalry in men's cricket -- India vs Pakistan. The return of the Asia Cup to the UAE also brings back the tradition of India-Pakistan matches being played in the country through the 1980s and 1990s, mainly in Sharjah.

India, the defending champions and seven-time winners of the trophy, will be looking to retain their throne as the best in Asia. A successful defence of the Asia Cup title ahead of the Men's T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November, where they will be facing Pakistan too on October 23, will be a huge boost for India, who have embraced an attacking style of play with the bat since their early exit from the tournament last year.

Pakistan, who had a stunning run to the semifinals in the UAE in the T20 World Cup last year, will be looking to be the prime challengers and do an encore of their 10-wicket victory over India during the mega event.

There are high chances that the greatest rivalry featuring India and Pakistan will not only happen once or twice, but potentially thrice in the tournament if both teams make it to the finals. After the group stage match on August 28 at the Dubai International Stadium, India and Pakistan will be well on track to face each other in the Super Four stage and, who knows, there could be a tantalising title clash too.

In Asia Cup, India have faced Pakistan 14 times, winning eight matches while ending up on the losing side on five occasions. Five of those eight wins have come in India's last six meetings with Pakistan in the Asia Cup since 2010. The last time India lost to Pakistan was in 2014, in Mirpur, Bangladesh.

At a time where there is no bilateral cricket between the two teams, an India-Pakistan clash in box-office events like Asia Cup and World Cups is more like touch and go. Of late, India had been the dominator in the big-ticket clash, until Pakistan changed the script last year in Dubai.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf clicked well in unison to keep India to 151. Captain Babar Azam and his deputy Mohammad Rizwan then finished off the chase with half-centuries, peppered with such precision without being broken by the Indian bowlers for a 01-wicket victory which broke their World Cup hoodoo against them.

Unarguably, an India-Pakistan clash is the biggest eyeballs-grabbing match in the cricketing world, financially as well as social media views-wise. But with the hype and pressure around, it is also a match, which will test the mental toughness and temperament of a player.

Performing big in India-Pakistan matches can hand a cricketer cult status if he leads the side to a victory while for the losing side, massive backlash is in store back home.

Come August 28, an evening blockbuster awaits fans from both India and Pakistan when Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma lead their teams on the field at the Dubai International Stadium to write another chapter of the greatest rivalry in the world of cricket.

Fans pour dirhams as India-Pak Asia Cup tie tickets sell out

Cricket fans have gone to extremes to get tickets for the much-awaited India vs Pakistan match to be played in Dubai on August 28.

The first batch of tickets for the clash between the archrivals was sold out within three hours on August 15. IANS spoke to some lucky people who got a chance to buy tickets in the first batch.

Indian national and Sharjah resident Saad said that he logged into the ticket portal from multiple computers to get tickets.

"I queued up on the site from 8 a.m. I saw updates about ticket sales and opened the website on four computers at once. I was lucky as I managed to buy tickets within 20 minutes." He said that he spent around 1000 dirhams to get the ticket. Tickets were available in bundles of three matches.

"I will not be able to go for the other two matches and will give them to friends or family members. This will be the first time that Saad will be watching an India-Pakistan match at the stadium. He is one of those who tried to get tickets for the match between India and Pakistan during the T20 World Cup last year but failed.

Dubai resident Vishal Singh said that he was able to get a premium ticket after four hours in the online queue. He spent more than 1200 dirhams on this ticket. He said that India and Pakistan matches happen only occasionally in Dubai, and "I didn't want to miss this opportunity".

The sale of the first batch started on August 15 and there was a long wait to get the tickets. Dubai resident Mustafa was one of the lucky few who got the tickets, but he had to stay logged in for eight hours!

"I had logged on to the portal in the morning on 15th August and was looking to see when it would go live. Finally, when the ticket sales started in the evening, though there were more than 500 ahead of me, I got the ticket. Within one hour only!," said Mustafa.

Many fans, who were not lucky enough to get India vs Pakistan match tickets, are reserving their seats for the final and Super 4 match. Indian expatriate Amardeep said that "I am sure these archrivals are going to clash in the final, and booked the ticket for the final... I hope to be there."

A look at the classifieds websites and Facebook reveals that tickets for the prestigious match are being advertised for up to 5,500 dirhams against its actual rate of 2,500. The general admission ticket, which costs 250 dirhams, is listed for resale at 2,500 dirhams.

Asia Cup ticketing partner Platinum List warned that reselling tickets is illegal and will be automatically cancelled. Customers are advised not to purchase secondary ticketing websites or online sales sites as it is possible that the ticket will not be valid for admission or will be cancelled.

The second batch of tickets for the India-Pakistan match of the Asia Cup in Dubai went on sale on Wednesday (August 17), but a new condition has been added to buy tickets. According to the organisers, India-Pakistan tickets will now be available only in packages.

Ticket sales are on a first-come, first-served basis. This means fans have to queue up online and keep logged in for hours. Many fans faced a waiting list of more than five lakh!