A very positive news for the cricket fans coming from Pallekele in Kandy is that the rain chances have dropped from a a high 94% to only 20%, according to the latest weather report on Saturday morning, the day of the India vs Pakistan encounter in the Asia Cup 2023.
The Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy is set to host the much-awaited, mouth-watering clash between the two arch-rivals on September 2, Saturday.
Until Friday, the match was said to be under a massive threat of rain as weather apps showed the probability of rain to be around 90% to 94%, which would have meant not only a shortened game, but indeed the match also could be washed out.
However, on Saturday morning, about five hours before the start of the match time, journalist Himanshu Pareek tweeted that the chances or probability of rain in Kandy had seen a massive dip to 20% from 94% which was forecasted until Friday.
“Big News: The chances of rain at Kandy miraculously dropped down to 20% from 94% a day before. Not sure what’s happening, maybe prayers, but the game is definitely on now. #INDvsPAK #AsiaCup23,” journalist Himanshu Pareek tweeted.
However, even though the rain threat has only reduced, fans in Sri Lanka have been tweeting live reports of conditions, and it’s cloudy: dark clouds are forecasted to remain for the entire day and night, and there was also a drizzle reported at around 12.00 PM in Kandy.
Latest update: dark clouds approaching, covers removed:
“Weather update from Pallekele: It is quite clear, blue skies right now and it not raining. There were brief spells of drizzle in the morning – one of them forced the ground to be covered at around 10:35am. But from about 10:45 am, covers have been off and it’s been sunny. Grey clouds are approaching but not the rain-carrying ones,” the journalist Himanshu Pareek tweeted.
Indian players would be itching to take the field today
The drop in rain probability is a great news for the fans, and also the players, especially the Indian players, most of whom haven’t played international cricket at all for a month. Most of the ODI squad members – barring Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna – had skipped the T20I tour of Ireland and their last ODI was on August 1 in West Indies.
Every game from now on is crucial for the Indian team – and there are not too many games left – as the Men In Blue look to finalize their combinations for the World Cup 2023.
