Team India is all set to take on Pakistan in their opening encounter of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium on October 23, Sunday. However, the weather gods are not in a great mood as the Australian city is experiencing heavy rainfall from last few days. According to the local Met department, there is an 80 to 90 per cent chance of rainfall, the volume of which could be between 1mm to 5 mm. There is also a prediction of a thunderstorm, which is, however, a lowly 13 per cent.
Also Read: Rohit Sharma opens up on India's decision of not travelling to Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023 ahead of IND vs PAK in T20 World Cup 2022
Rain threat over IND vs PAK in ICC T20 World Cup 2022? pic.twitter.com/5qvsScDXxo
— Akash Kharade (@cricaakash) October 18, 2022
When asked about the weather and the chance of a rain-curtailed match in the press conference ahead of the Pakistan game, India captain Rohit Sharma said, "Upar waale ke haath mai hai ki kal kya hoga, in terms of the weather. It is more competitive when there are all 40 overs. But we have to prepare ourselves for whatever happens."
On Friday evening, there was a sharp spell of the shower in Melbourne and something like this on Sunday could spell doom for cricket fans. However, the locals, who have a fair idea about a change of weather, are confident that even if the heavens open up, there could still be a curtailed match.
Talking about the comeback of Mohammed Shami, Rohit said that the team is happy to have him back. He also added that he wanted to give Shami match practise in the warm-up match against New Zealand but the game was washed out. "His body was something we wanted to look at. We wanted him to recover. We wanted to give him full four overs in the warm up game but that didn't quite happen. He looked quite ready in his preparation. It's just about executing now and doing what Shami does," Rohit said.
When asked how important was the special camp ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup, as usually India comes to big events like this just after playing IPL or a bilateral series. "This was a conscious decision from the BCCI and team management after the last tournament. We knew where the World Cup was happening, so we wanted to come here (early) and get used to the conditions. A lot of the guys in the team had not played before in Australia. That was a key decision. Getting acclimatized to the time zone. I thought the way we prepared in Perth, we were lucky enough to get that time, "India captain added.
