The squad has been closely watching the circumstances, according to India’s skipper Rohit Sharma, who also acknowledged the numerous difficulties the pitch conditions provide.
SUMMARY
- The most awaited match of Asia Cup 2023, India vs Pakistan is scheduled for today
- Even if this match is cancelled due to rain, India still has a chance to advance, having another match left to play
- The top two teams from the group will qualify for the Super 4s, which will be held in Colombo
The much awaited fight between India and Pakistan has been in jeopardy because of the erratic weather. It doesn’t appear probable that there will be a complete washout as of Saturday morning. There is a 40–60% chance of rain during the toss, but AccuWeather predicts that it will become better as the day goes on. Current circumstances indicate that the coin toss will take place promptly at 2.30 PM.
Pallekele has been enveloped in gloom for the previous two days, with foreboding dark clouds looming overhead. Even though there hasn’t been any rain since Thursday, the Saturday night forecast first seemed bleak with a 90% probability of rain up to 6 o’clock. But since Friday evening, neither Kandy nor its neighbor Pallekele, which is only a 30-minute drive away, have had any rain.
The brightest dawn since Wednesday occurred on Saturday as powerful gusts started to blow the ominous clouds away. Such a scene usually denotes passing rains lasting only a half-hour to an hour, according to local observations. In these situations, teams frequently use the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) technique to determine whether to bowl or bat after winning the toss. Given the slower pace of the pitch and the difficulties of scoring at night, the choice might not be clear-cut. Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of Bangladesh, won the toss and elected to bat first in the first game played here despite the cloudy weather. However, he battled and was eventually out for 163 runs.
The squad has been closely watching the circumstances, according to India’s skipper, Rohit Sharma, who also acknowledged the numerous difficulties the pitch conditions provide. He emphasized how crucial situational awareness is, particularly in a 50-over game as opposed to the more explosive style of T20 cricket.
India still has a chance to advance because they still have a match to play, while Pakistan already has a victory over Nepal under their belt. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Colombo-based Super 4s.
On Friday night, both the Indian and Pakistani teams held practice sessions, and once those sessions were completed, the ground crew swept the whole field. In such a case, there are encouraging chances that the game will restart quite swiftly even in the event of a rain delay.
India and Pakistan have a 7-5 head-to-head record at the Asia Cup, with just one of their prior games being impacted by inclement weather.
Where to watch
The live coverage of the India vs. Pakistan game will be provided by Star Sports Television and can be viewed on the Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil SD + HD, Star Sports 1 Telugu SD+HD, and Star Sports 1 Kannada stations.
Additionally, the Disney Hotstar+ app and website offer free live streaming for fans.
Team India Squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, K L Rahul (wk), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Team Pakistan Squad
Babar Azam (c), Muhammad Tayyab Tahir, Abdullah Shafique, Imam Ul Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Muhammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf.