Asia Cup: Will rain play spoilsport in the much awaited India-Pakistan clash? | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The highly anticipated showdown between India and Pakistan during the Asia Cup 2023 is facing a formidable adversary: the weather in Kandy. According to Weather.com, thunderstorms are in the forecast, carrying a 90% probability of rain on September 2.
Google Weatheraligns with this prediction, anticipating a thundershower with a 90% chance of precipitation and humidity levels around 84% in Kandy.As for the temperature, it’s projected to hover around 28 degrees celsius.In preparation for the impending clash, the Indian men’s cricket team touched down at the Colombo airport earlier in the day. Notably, seasoned batter Virat Kohli and versatile all-rounder Hardik Pandya were spotted engrossed in conversation.

While Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami and India head coach Rahul Dravid were seen chatting and sharing laughs while sitting in the bus.
However, Team India will be missing the services of star batter KL Rahul in their campaign opener against Pakistan. While Rahul is on the path to recovery from his injury, a recent minor setback led him to seek care under the supervision of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) until September 4 as confirmed by Dravid during a press conference on Tuesday.

“He (KL Rahul) had a good week with us, he is progressing really well on the route that we want to take, but he will be unavailable for the first part of the Kandy leg of the trip. The NCA will be looking after him while we are travelling. We will reassess him on the fourth (September 4) and we will take it from there. The signs are good and he is progressing really well,” Dravid said.

Pakistan, India and Nepal are in Group A while Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are in Group B. The tournament will follow a hybrid model with Pakistan hosting four matches across two venues and Sri Lanka hosting the remaining games.

The six group-stage matches will be followed by the Super Fours beginning September 6.
The final will be played by the top two teams at the end of the Super Fours on September 17 in Colombo.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.
(With ANI inputs)