Kandy weather update: Latest forecast brightens chances of Pak vs India clash

Pakistan and India are set to face each other in much-anticipated Asia Cup clash at 2:30pm

By Faizan Lakhani
|
September 02, 2023
Pakistan and Indian skippers Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma pose with the Asia Cup trophy. — AFP/File

Pakistan and India are all set to face each other in the much-anticipated Asia Cup 2023 clash on Saturday (today) at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

For the past couple of days, fans were extremely worried as the highly-octane match was expected to be interrupted by rain.

However, the latest forecast shows that Kandy's weather has become pleasant with fewer chances of rain as compared to the previous forecast which said that there was over 70% chance of rain during the match.

Earlier, it was predicted that Kandy would witness rain for the entire day but the latest forecast shows that it will rain for just an hour today.

According to the latest prediction, there is a 40% to 60% chance of rain between 2pm and 3pm while there is only a 20% chance of rain in Kandy after 3:30pm.

The encounter between Pakistan and India is scheduled for 2:30pm (Pakistan time) today.

The last time the two met in a 50-over match was in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 where the Blues emerged victorious.

Even in their most recent meeting at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia during the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup 2022, India won.

If the rain interrupts the game today, the two teams can 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.

Playing XI

Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain) Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf

India (likely): Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.