Pakistan-India match’s nightmarish affair with rain in Asia Cup 2023 continued on Monday — the day reserved to complete the match because of rain the previous day — as the restart originally scheduled for 2:30pm (PST) has been delayed yet again.
An update on news website ESPNcricinfo after 2:30pm said the “drizzle hasn’t totally stopped but has gone to a bare minimum. The groundstaff are just removing the excess water from the covers but not taking the covers off. So the 3pm (Sri Lanka time) start is already delayed”.
Pakistan and India are set to resume their Super Four stage Asia Cup match today in Colombo, with rain predicted to play spoilsport yet again on the reserve day.
The first match between the two arch rivals in the ongoing tournament was washed out, with the Green Shirts left waiting for their chance to bat.
The second match between the two, which took place on Sunday, was also abandoned after just 24.1 overs of play.
However, this time around, authorities had prepared a contingency plan and announced a reserve day (today) for the Super Four clash — the only game to get the advantage other than the final.
India were 147/2 at the first ball of the 24th over when the play was paused. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul will resume their innings when the match starts.
But the rain threat still loomed on Monday. ESPNcricinfo shared a video of rainfall in the Sri Lankan capital shortly before the match was scheduled to begin, saying, “The Colombo skies have spoken.”
According to The Weather Channel’s forecast, there was an 87 per cent chance of thunderstorms at 2:30pm, with the match scheduled to start at 3pm local time (2:30pm PST).
The report also said that while storms would end by 4pm, more were “possible later”. It said that there was an 80pc chance of thunderstorms at 7:30pm.
A minimum of 20 overs is required to be bowled in the two innings to get a result. If today’s match is also washed out, then both the teams will take one point each, which will propel Pakistan to the top of the Super Four rankings after having won against Bangladesh. India are scheduled to play against Sri Lanka tomorrow (Tuesday).
Meanwhile, former cricketer Wasim Akram posted a video on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) talking about the weather in Colombo ahead of the match.
“Good morning. Rain has been taking place on and off throughout the night. But now it’s clear — not clear clear — but you can see the clouds and it’s breezy,” he said.
“The weather looks fine for now but let’s see what happens by the time the game starts,” he said.
“But you see, I know it’s frustrating for every one of us, even us guys sitting here but you can’t control the weather,” he said. “I suppose we can only pray and hope the weather gets better and I hope you enjoy good cricket”.
Separately, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) posted a message on X, reminding fans that they could use their yesterday’s tickets for today.
Sunday’s match
Virat Kohli, on eight, and KL Rahul, on 17, were batting on Sunday when rain forced the players off and groundstaff worked tirelessly to try and restart the game after showers stopped.
After three inspections and fans helped to dry wet patches, the umpires looked like restarting play after over four hours of stoppage, but rain came to have the final say.
Skipper Rohit Sharma (56) and fellow opener Shubman Gill (58) gave India a blazing start in a stand of 121 off 100 balls to put Pakistan on the backfoot.
The batsmen took on the new-ball pair of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah with aerial shots in the powerplay when only two fielders are allowed outside the inner circle.
Both Shaheen and Naseem looked menacing in their first spell as the ball kept flying past the bat, and one edge from Gill went between two slips.
Rohit smashed leg-spinner Shadab Khan for two sixes and a four off successive balls in a 19-run over to raise the noise of the Indian fans at a largely empty stadium.
Shadab redeemed himself after the first drinks interval to send back Rohit caught out, and Shaheen returned to get Gill in the next over.
Scoring dipped as Kohli and Rahul looked to rebuild before rain intervened.
