Pictures from Shoaib Akhtar's evening with India's 'best' ahead of 'Maha Muqabla' go viral

India and Pakistan have traditionally had a strong sporting relationship, particularly in cricket, which is by far the most popular sport in both nations. Since bilateral cricket between India and Pakistan remains suspended, fans on both sides of the border eagerly wait for the two teams to meet in an ICC tournament so they may relive the fierce rivalry yet again. India and Pakistan will next lock horns in the upcoming T20 World Cup, where they will begin their campaign against each other on October 24. 

A week before the highly-anticipated game, former cricketers from both sides met in the UAE to spend some quality time with each other. Ex-Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar shared a couple of pictures on his official Twitter handle, where he can be seen hanging out with former India greats Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar. In the pictures that are now going viral across social media platforms, Akhtar can be seen giving shoulder massages to Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. Ex-Pakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas was also seen in the photos shared by Akhtar.

Since the T20 World Cup began in 2007, India and Pakistan have played a total of five games. When it comes to the twenty-over World Cup, India once again leads the head-to-head record, as Pakistan has yet to overcome the Men in Blue in the showpiece ICC event. In the T20 World Cups, India has won four of the five games played versus Pakistan, with one match ending in a tie. The Virat Kohli-led side will enter the match against Pakistan as favourites to win courtesy of their superior World Cup record. 

India and Pakistan's World Cup squads

India's World Cup squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Varun Chakravarthy, Rahul Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah. Travelling reserves: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar. 

Pakistan's World Cup squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood. Traveling reserves: Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir. 

Image: Twitter/@ShoaibAkhtar