India to face arch-rivals Pakistan at Manchester amidst rain scare

New Delhi: Team India will be looking to maintain World Cup dominance over arch-rivals Pakistan when they meet each other at the Old Trafford in Manchester today. The match is scheduled to start at 3 pm (IST) only if rain doesn’t play spoilsport.

India and Pakistan will meet each other for the seventh time in the current World Cup and India have remained unbeaten in previous six encounters.

India is riding on a high after winning its first two matches. After its last match against New Zealand was washed out; more than a billion fans all over the world would be praying for a clear sky today.

With Shikhar Dhawan’s injury and entry of Vijay Shankar in the team; the Indian team management is likely to retain the selected 11 from the last match. India’s batting is in form, and so is its bowling and fielding. They will be itching for some good cricket and an easy two points to maintain the lead in the points table.

Meanwhile, Pakistan seem to be failing to maintain their consistency in high-pressure situations. Pakistan have won just one of their four matches, with one game washed out.

Sunil Gavaskar on ECB’s Rain Preparedness

Coming to the third party involved in the match- the horrific weather. Former Indian captain and cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar has severely criticized the English Cricket Board (ECB) for its apparent lack of rain preparedness.

Sunil Gavaskar, speaking to India Today from Old Trafford in Manchester, said the inability of the ECB to have cricket grounds fully covered is “totally unacceptable”. It was pouring down in Manchester even as Gavaskar was expressing his frustration at the puddles that were being formed on the uncovered areas of the outfield. It was a complete shocker that ECB did not even bother to cover the entire ground.

Sunil Gavaskar added that maybe ICC should take some kind of action against the ECB for its superficial preparation for cricket world’s biggest tournament.

United Kingdom’s MET department‘s forecasts suggest that there’s a 50% chance of rain at around 1 pm local time on Sunday in Manchester. And it won’t be until after 7 pm local time that the possibility of rain will go below 40%.

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