India and Pakistan will clash in the Twenty20 World Cup in Colombo ​on Sunday, still feeling the aftershocks of a tumultuous fortnight in which Pakistan’s boycott threat — later reversed — nearly blew a hole in the tournament’s marquee fixture.

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With bilateral cricket a casualty of their fraught relations, emotions run high whenever the bitter neighbors lock horns in multi-team events at neutral venues.

India’s strained relations with another neighbor, Bangladesh, have further tangled the geopolitics around the World Cup.

When Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland in the 20-team field for refusing to tour India over safety ‌concerns, the regional ‌chessboard shifted.