Collective hope that rain holds off for MCG blockbuster

India captain Rohit Sharma is hoping Melbourne's notoriously unpredictable weather will hold off long enough to battle Pakistan in a monster Twenty20 World Cup match.

More than 90,000 people will descend on the MCG on Sunday night as another chapter is written in one of world sport's biggest rivalries.

Clashes between India and Pakistan are always highly-anticipated as they have been restricted to playing each in major tournaments during the last 10 years due to ongoing tensions between the countries.

The record crowd figure for a cricket match at the MCG – 93,013 at the 2015 ODI World Cup final – is every chance to be broken.

But the match, which India legend Ravi Shastri labelled the "Big Daddy" of all cricket games, is under threat of not producing a result.

Up to 8mm of rain is predicted, with a high chance of showers forecast in the evening when the game is scheduled.

But Sharma is not giving any thought to a washout in what would be a major disappointment for fans.

"I've been hearing about Melbourne weather for a while now and it keeps changing," the 35-year-old reporters on Saturday.

"We don't really know what is going to happen tomorrow so we'll just focus on the things that are in our control."

The blockbuster match will take place just days after BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who is also the Asian Cricket Council president, suggested that next year's Asia Cup should not go ahead in Pakistan because India "can't go there".

Next year's ODI World Cup is in India and the country's sports minister Anurag Thakur has declared he expects Pakistan to tour.

But Sharma was in no mood to discuss the ongoing dispute between the boards of each country.

"My take is let's focus on this World Cup, because it is important for us," he said.

"We are not worried about what's going to happen later.

"There is no point thinking about it, the BCCI will make decisions on that."

India are desperate to make amends for their disappointing exit in last year's T20 World Cup when they failed to qualify for the knockout stage.

To make matters worse for them, Pakistan smashed India by 10 wickets to end a 12-match losing streak against their arch-enemy in World Cups.

"This Pakistani team is a very challenging team," Sharma said.

"I mean, all the Pakistani teams that I've played from 2007 until (now), they've all been very good.

"I don't think you can underestimate any team in a World Cup, as you've seen in the qualifiers."

India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 when they beat Pakistan in the final but the cricket powerhouse have not tasted success in an ICC tournament since lifting the 2013 Champions Trophy.