Yes, there is still a lot of excitement. Yes, it brings a rush of memories from the past (the ecstasy of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag’s blast in the 2003 World Cup, or the agony of Javed Miandad’s last-ball six in Sharjah in 1986). Yes, there is the indelible baggage of a very bloody Partition and three wars.

But let us face it: the India-Pakistan cricket rivalry is no longer the breathless, do-or-die spectacle it once used to be. It does not evoke the same desperation to win, or the humiliation in defeat. An outcome on the cricket field is no longer a portent for the geopolitical future between the two nations.

Because both on the cricket field and off it, the two nations have taken a very different trajectory.

In the 10 ODI matches the........

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