Daijiworld Media Network

London, Jun 18 : India gave Pakistan the MFN (Most Favoured Nation) - a treatment given to a trade partner to ensure non-discriminatory trade between the two countries - status in 1996. Well, as out of context as it may sound, the bilateral trade on the cricket field has ceased to exist since 2012-13, helping the sporadic clashes at the events grow into a money minting machine; so much so that barring the cricketing intelligentsia, which is worried at the prospect of another one-sided match, no one is bothered about the match lacking in quality that once the India-Pakistan ties used to produce. Hence there is no dearth of intensity on the social media, across tv debates and as far as the Oval is concerned, even on the streets leading up to the stadium.

Sarfraz Ahmed: I think we would have wanted to bowl but the toss is not in our hands. Looks like a good batting pith. I am very proud of my boys. When we arrived here we were number eight. We had nothing to lose. Today as well we have nothing to lose. He (Mohammad Amir) is back and is now playing today.

Pakistan (Playing XI): Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed(w/c), Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah

India have won the toss and have opted to field

Virat Kohli: We will bowl first. Looks like a decent hard wicket, should stay true. I think it will stay true. We are a side who like chasing. We have played some cricket here. One more effort to go. If you make the final it means you have played some great cricket to come here

Ashwin had a strapped knee yesterday, India will hope it's nothing serious. All thanks to something he picked up during the fielding drill yesterday. The host broadcaster shows us images of him jogging around under the watchful eyes of the physio. Mohammad Amir is certain to return for Pakistan in place of Raees.

Nasser Hussain with the pitch report. 'There is a bit of grass, but it's dead grass, because the sun has been out. This is a fresh pitch. This has not been used in the tournament. It is a very good surface.'

Centurion returned with its cut, this time as Malik cut India to shreds. Mohali learnt to celebrate as dropped catches became the norm. Colombo turned the usually calm Raina into a nephew of a tweeter. Edgbaston's rains turned salty as they rubbed it in. Dhaka reaffirmed that Inzy's retirement doesn't diminish the comic timing while running between the wickets. Adelaide witnessed the apprentice officially take over. Kolkata staged the blessing ceremony. Yuvraj mixed up Birmingham for Durban. Add London to the list..add a memory..add a hero.

Text commentary operates much on the lines of a team sport. Here too disagreement runs in veins. All my efforts to keep this intro free from past records are dying a slow death as Vineet Anantharaman won't budge. Read him out - Sydney saw Miandad turn into a rabbit. Bangalore threw up a Prasad, serving revenge, cold, with a mouthful and a finger brimming up to dish out directions. Manchester allowed him to carry forth his cheek. Centurion immortalized an upper cut. No one ever saw someone stare as hard and long as Birmingham did when Dravid and Akhtar got into the act. Durban officially marked the entry of football.
Johannesburg compelled a batsman who has 'tuk'-ed his way into history to pull out a scoop that would haunt him for life.

Before we move on: the weather is all bright and sunny, clouds might mark their attendance for a while but will soon bunk the class. Thank me by pouring in the comments, the 'have your say' link is enabled now. By the way, I will be joined by a few good men soon. One of them is Mr Pratyush Sinha whose update reads, 'Good that India-Pakistan is so rare. My cook's called in sick and then there are no tuk-tuks around. I'll be late to office.'

The way I saw it, everybody takes a beating sometime: Henry (the protagonist in Goodfellas - a Martin Scorsese classic). Pakistan's journey started on 4th June, and our Henry were bruised by India. But as it turned out, soon they would graduate to become a gangster who rain-drubbed South Africa before flipping fortunes and odds to trump the favourites - England - to set up a redemption date. And as for their date - India - they too had their fair share of beating, unlike the last edition when they sprinted to the finish line unscathed. Dents have their importance. They help teams have their feet on ground as they try to scale skies. For Kohli's men the defeat against Sri Lanka was a gentle reminder that complacency could cost big in a tournament that despite all efforts could not completely shed the tag of a knockout trophy.

So here's something that won't please fans on either sides: there won't be an eventual winner eight hours after this sermon from someone who has to do the painstaking job of remaining unbiased on a day when it becomes easier to choose sides. I haven't, I cannot. Hope you have! I, Abhishek Chaudhary, the unfortunate neutral, welcome you to the final of the Champions Trophy.

No, it won't start like a customary jog down the memory lane with a motive to remind you about the glorious history of cricket on either sides of the border, head to head records, personal milestones. It's easy to get swayed by popular narratives and quote banal events that hold little or no relevance when two nations hooked to each other through past, present and - hopefully - future, yet separated at every level due to (un)controllable circumstances, face off at a global stage. India and Pakistan, often, take their battles abroad, through politics, history and of course sports. And it's always a stalemate. The logjam continues decades after it all began. There's no eventual winner. Only rounds are decided and scores are settled for a while until next time when battle lines are drawn again, stumps are erected across 22 yards. Until then there is a winner. Mind you, that's not the end result.