Devendra Pandey, our reporter notes from Melbourne: There have been signs of relief with reports predicting it to be a cloudy evening ahead of the match between India and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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There has been a fear of rain since the past few days and many fans have been praying for the weather gods to take a Sunday off. The stadium is expected to be a full house and all tickets have been sold for the marquee clash at the T20 World Cup.
Captain speak
India is set to play Pakistan in their first game of the 2022 T20 World Cup at a sold-out Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday. But the talk around the game in the recent days have centred around the weather and how Melbourne’s climate could play spoilsport.
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Over the past few days weather predictions had said that rain would most likely affect the game, with more than 90% chances of precipitation in the city. Both India and Pakistan’s preparations going into this match have also been hampered by rain with Pakistan’s warm-up match off midway, while India didn’t get to face or bowl a ball in their warm-up against New Zealand.
On the eve of the match though, a couple of things have changed. Firstly, the weather forecast has improved considerably. After a late-night spell of rain, there was no more precipitation in the morning. And secondly, the chance of rain was reduced to 70% and that too a low spell. But that spell of 2-5.5mm of rain is most likely to hit the city during late afternoon and evening, when the match is set to take place.
Captain Rohit Sharma said that India had faced conditions like this before and had the experience of adapting to a shorter game, should rain come into the equation.
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“Luckily, we played one game in India against Australia which was an eight-over game. I think in terms of where the guys stand, I don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference, but we just certainly need to come here very well prepared and thinking that it’s going to be a 40-over game,” said Sharma at the pre-match press conference.
In that shortened eight-over match against Australia, India had chased down a target of 91, with four balls to spare. That match took place in Nagpur on September 23.
Hear what Pakistan captain Babar Azam had to say at the pre-match press conference ahead of their #T20WorldCup clash against India. pic.twitter.com/Va2CHPoJrN
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— ICC (@ICC) October 23, 2022
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Pakistan captain Babar Azam had a message among similar lines when he said that the weather was not in their hands but still their attempt would be to make the most out of the situation.
“As players, we would love to play and play a full game. A lot of people are waiting for this match. We want it to be a 40-over match, but whatever happens we are prepared for it,” said Azam at the pre-match press conference.
Babar had a hilarious reply to a question on rain. “Are all the players singing ‘Rain, rain go away?” a journalist had asked Babar Azam.
“‘Hum baccho ko lori nahi suna rahe hain,” Babar said with a smile. “We have no control over the weather. But I want the match to take place. We will give our 100 percent whatever the situation is.”
