India and Pakistan will resume their rivalry on Saturday in their Group A encounter in the Asia Cup 2023. The match will be hosted at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.
However, the excitement and anticipation of the Indian and Pakistani fans is likely to be turned into frustration because the match is expected to be delayed and/or interrupted by rain. Worse, the match could be a washout as well because a 91% probability of rain is forecasted for Saturday, September 2, in Pallekel in Kandy.
Pallekele is a city in the Kandy District, Central Province, Sri Lanka, where it has been raining hard over the past three days. Further, the city is forecasted to receive a significant amount of rain on the day of the much-awaited match between India and Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023.
According to Weather.com, the report says that the entire Saturday will remain cloudy with occasional, but heavy thunderstorms and a high probability of rain. Other weather forecasters, such as AccuWeather and the BBC Weather, have also predicted similar weather reports for Saturday in Kandy.
And the rain is not only forecasted for the morning of Saturday. As per the AccuWeather report, Kandy will see a thick cloud cover with a 94% probability of a downpour. It also predicts a 99% chance of rain in the second half of the day, around the time when the India-Pakistan clash is scheduled to start.
What happens if India vs Pakistan match is washed out in Asia Cup?
Pakistan have 2 points after defeating Nepal by 238 runs in Multan. If the India-Pakistan match is washed out, then, as both teams will get one point each, Pakistan will qualify for the Super 4 round. This will make the India vs Nepal encounter on September 4 a must-win game for both teams. The winning team between India and Nepal will qualify for Super 4, knocking the other side out of the competition.
Pakistan squad: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim, Tayyab Tahir, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (travelling backup)
