Asia Cup 2023: India vs Pakistan Weather Forecast and Pitch Report

The highly anticipated clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 10, at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. However, it's important to note that there is a significant threat of rain for this fixture, which could potentially disrupt the flow of the Asia Cup 2023 contest.

The Much-Awaited Cricket Match

Pakistan boasts a formidable fast bowling attack featuring the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah, who posed a serious challenge to India's top-order batsmen during their previous group stage encounter.

Despite this, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya put up a valiant effort, guiding their side to a respectable total of 266. Unfortunately, heavy rain forced the match to be abandoned. Notably, persistent rain also washed out the group stage encounter between these arch-rivals at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.

Rain Threat: India vs Pakistan Match

As the Super Four match gets underway at 3:00 PM local time (and IST), weather projections from 'Accuweather' indicate that conditions are expected to remain cloudy throughout the day with a chance of a couple of thunderstorms. Cloud cover is likely to be at 96 percent, with humidity at 84 percent. Afternoon wind gusts are expected to reach 41 km/h, blowing from the southwest at a rate of 20 km/h. Toward the late evening, cloud cover is projected to reach 100 percent, with a 96 percent probability of precipitation.

Similarly, 'BBC Weather' also forecasts a 47 percent chance of precipitation during the afternoon, which increases in the latter half of the evening. It seems highly likely that the match will face interruptions due to rain as per these weather projections.

In terms of the Super Four stage, Pakistan comfortably secured a seven-wicket victory in their first game against Bangladesh. On the other hand, India will play their first Super Four stage match against Pakistan on Sunday.

Regarding the pitch at R. Premadasa Stadium

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It traditionally favors spinners, although it also benefits batsmen due to its quick outfield and relatively tight boundaries. Chasing a target on this surface can be challenging. However, considering the uncertain weather conditions, the toss winner is likely to opt for bowling first, given that the DLS factor will play a significant role if rain disrupts the match. The average first-innings score at this venue is 232.

Reserve Day on September 11

In case the match is disrupted on the scheduled day, it will resume on the reserve day. The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has secured approval from the boards of all four participating teams in the Super Four for a reserve day to be allocated specifically for the India-Pakistan fixture. It's worth noting that match officials have the option to extend the game by 90 minutes on the match day. However, assuming that the match isn't completed on Sunday, it will continue on Monday from where it left off.

Match Details

• Date and time: September 10, 2023, Sunday; 09:30 am GMT | 03:00 pm local | 03:00 pm IST
• Venue: R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Squads

Pakistan:

• Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Wasim Jr

India:

• Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Tilak Varma

Also Read: Sanju Samson is dropped from the Asia Cup team when KL Rahul returns