Rain continues to stalk Pakistan team

LONDON: It seems wet weather has been stalking the Pakistan team. It washed out Pakistan’s World Cup game against Sri Lanka. The Pakistanis believe the abandoned match deprived them of a valuable point.

Dark clouds hovered over the County Ground in Taunton but didn’t come to save them in the match against Australia. Their game against India at Old Trafford was affected by rain but not enough to force a washout, something Pakistan must have appreciated. They lost by 89 runs.

Lord’s was dry and warmer than any other venue for the Pakistanis, who made full use of familiar conditions to prevail in a must-win encounter against South Africa on Sunday. But Birmingham is under a spell of wet weather since the Pakistan team’s arrival here for Wednesday’s crucial match against table-toppers New Zealand. It has rained heavily here since Tuesday morning. The showers forced Pakistan to take their training session indoor at Edgbaston.

The Pakistanis, who spent Monday travelling from London, made Tuesday’s training optional for the players. A few of the players including pacer Mohammad Amir and prolific batsman Babar Azam opted against taking part in the training session. The other players, who did opt to train, found out that they were cramped for space in the indoor training area at Edgbaston.