India will take on Pakistan on October 23 in Melbourne but if the news reports are to be believed, then rain can play the spoilsport on the big day. The opening match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan will take place this weekend at Melbourne Cricket Ground, but Accuweather shows that the Australian metropolis is all set to enter a wet spell from October 21.
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Some parts of Australia are currently facing a third straight La Nina weather event with a wetter-than-average summer expected. Therefore, there is a forecast for downpours in Sydney and Melbourne from Friday through to next week.
In such a case, there is quite a possibility that much awaited India vs Pakistan game might go without a single ball being played.
According to Accuweather, Melbourne might receive some drizzle on Thursday night. However, the rain is expected to make its presence feel for the next three days.
On October 21 (Friday), there is a 96% chance that it might rain and the same weather might remain on October 22 (Saturday) but the sun might shine partly. However, on the match day, i.e. October 23 (Sunday), the city is expected to receive heavy rainfall with 60% precipitation.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting “very high (90 percent) chance of showers” and potentially thunderstorms.
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It’s therefore highly likely that the match might get washed away but in case it doesn’t rain heavily and match is played then there will be 100% cloud cover which might help the seamers to obtain some swing and seam from the Melbourne track.
While, India-Pakistan match might end up in waiting for the rain to stop, on the other hand there are also clouds of doubt over Australia vs New Zealand match. The finalists from the last year’s T20 World Cup will be playing in the Super 12 opener on Saturday (October 22) at Sydney Cricket Ground.
However, it’s been raining incessantly in Sydney. The rain forecast is till next Tuesday (October 25) with 85% chances of precipitation along with a heavy thunderstorm in Sydney on October 22. Therefore, it seems there are very bleak chances of the two teams facing each other on Saturday.
While talking about other games, the weather might also interrupt games scheduled for Friday and Sunday in Hobart, however England’s opener against Afghanistan in Perth on Saturday has a relatively fine weather forecast.
It is to be noted that there are no reserve day for group matches. So, if India vs Pakistan match gets washed out then the two teams won’t be facing each other. There are only reserve days for semi-finals and final match.
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