ACC announces reserve day for Pakistan clash

JASPRIT Bumrah has rejoined the Indian team after a brief hiatus from Asia Cup duties, in view of the birth of his first child. He arrived in Colombo early on Friday, just in time for India’s first Super 4 match against Pakistan on Sunday. His arrival coincides with the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announcing a reserve day for the upcoming crucial match.
Due to the persistent inclement weather in Colombo, the ACC has rightly decided to designate a reserve day for Sunday’s fixture. In case the weather affects the game on the scheduled day, it will continue on Monday from where it left off. It’s worth noting that there are no reserve days allocated for the other Super 4 matches due to back-to-back games, but the final will have a reserve day in case of rain.
Bumrah had left Sri Lanka immediately after India’s initial game against Pakistan on September 2, causing him to miss the second league match against Nepal on September 4. However, his return aligns perfectly with the team’s first Super 4 contest.
On Friday evening, Bumrah was scheduled to join the team for a practice session at the R Premadasa Stadium. Anticipating inclement weather, the Indian team may have to practise indoors, as they did on Thursday, unless the weather improves later in the evening, which has been the recent trend. Fortunately, there has been no rain in Colombo since Friday morning (at the time of publishing), raising hopes for a productive evening practice session.
The weather outlook for the upcoming week is not very promising, with Colombo expected to receive heavy rainfall, including a 90 per cent chance of rain on Sunday. This explains the ACC’s decision to arrange a reserve day for such a crucial match. The India-Pakistan league game, it may be recalled, had to be abandoned due to rain.