The Asia Cup 2023 match between Pakistan and India, scheduled to be held on September 2 at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka, is likely to be interrupted by rain.
Rain is expected all week in the Sri Lankan city of Kandy, according to BBC weather forecast, with about a 70% chance of showers occurring during the match which starts at about 3pm local time.
Meanwhile, World Weather Online forecast a staggering 102.55mm of rain on Saturday whereas prediction is also for Friday which could cause a delay in the much-anticipated game.
Continuous showers are predicted from 7am local time to midnight, which means that the game can end with no result.
Winds are also expected during the match which can affect the playing conditions and overall atmosphere.
The temperatures during the game will hover between 20 and 24 degrees Celsius The last time the two sides met in a 50-over match was in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2019 when India emerged victorious.
However, their most recent meeting was in the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup 2022 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia where India won — thanks to one of the greatest innings of all time by Virat Kohli.
Even if the rain interrupts the play, the two teams will face each other once again in the Super Four stage if they make it past the group stages.
In the Asia Cup, Pakistan and India are in Group A with Nepal. While Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are in Group B with Afghanistan.
Squads
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna—APP
