Drawn together in the Asia Cup group stages, pre-tournament favourites India and Pakistan resume their rivalry on Sunday. The two meet in Dubai, nearly a year from Pakistan’s historic T20 World Cup win against India in the same venue. Before the crunch tie, Virat Kohli and Babar Azam were pictured exchanging pleasantries. The two share a close bond, with Babar even coming to Kohli’s support on social media. “This too shall pass,” tweeted Pakistan’s captain after another Kohli no-show in a recent ODI against England.

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As the two sides arrived for their training sessions at the Dubai International Stadium, Babar and Kohli shook hands and traded smiles before heading off to train. The former is a self-professed Kohli fan, modelling much of his technique on his style. But, the two are in contrasting stages of their career. Babar mirrors Kohli in becoming the men’s team captain across formats whilst plundering runs with alarming ease. Kohli, however, can’t buy a run if he pleases. He has given up his captaincy to focus on his batting, but runs remain dry. Once Kohli’s domain, the Pakistani now leads the rankings in ODIs and T20Is, marking himself as the premier limited-overs batter in men’s cricket.

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Kohli’s century drought has dragged past 1000 days. But he remains unbothered, putting in the yards at BKC Complex in Mumbai. Rested from the West Indies and Zimbabwe tours, he is low on match practice. As the vultures steadily encircle, the star batter will have to deliver in the upcoming days. On the other hand, Babar has had a full calendar since March, taking in the home series against Australia, tours to West Indies, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands. In their last outing against in Rotterdam, the ace batter’s 91 helped edge the visitors past a spirited Dutch showing.