Rain wins the day at Pallekele!

Roughly three hours before the toss at the Pallekele stadium Aayan Afzal Ansari boarded a train from Colomborsquos Fort Station to Kandy hoping against hope that he and his sevenyearold daughter would be able to witness a muchawaited rematch of the 2021 encounter between his native country Pakistan and IndiaAfzal is a businessman from Karachi living in Colombo since 2018 with his family of five After Pakistan stunned Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023 opener the 32yearold knew at once that he would not miss watching the Men in Green register another win if the sun came out But his heart sank as he witnessed rain the moment his train left Fort Much to his dismay he arrived in Kandy to the news that there was almost a 60 percent chance that the game would be washed outldquoIt is very annoying when you travel all the way from Colombo to the stadium and the match gets cancelled in the end Luckily we got there just in time The persistent rain was such a mood spoiler Cricket in Sri Lanka should really be played indoorsrdquo a visibly irritated Afzal remarkedThe roofed stadiums piqued my interest for a little while but it is far away from reality And until that day arrives many others like Afzal and myself will be lumped with rain interruptions and lengthy delaysWhere there is cricket there is rain ndash this unwritten law might not be pencilled into the giant book of cricket laws yet but there seems to be no getting away from it especially during the big matches It is a natural phenomenon I agree and yet administrators take their chancesWhen asked if he intends to watch more matches at the stadium Afzal replied ldquoMaybe if work permits This was my first time at an IndiaPakistan game so the excitement was palpable Now that we are into Super 4s I will think about taking some time off work and enjoying watching the boys Hopefully there will be one more IndiaPakistan before the World Cuprdquo Afzalrsquos predicament reminds me of a very popular saying in Sri Lanka that you must play a cricket match if you want rainRain interrupted thrice on Saturday leaving the fans fuming What began as a drizzle soon turned into a heavy downpourThe downpour began in the fifth over when India reached 15 for no loss Play resumed minutes later only to be halted again in the 12th over after a skillful spell of Pakistani pace ace Shaheen Shah Afridi sent the Indian batting mainstays Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli back into the dressing room Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandyarsquos attempts to revive Indiarsquos innings lifted spirits but the rain returned with a vengeance after the Men in Blue posted a healthy 266 on board leading to the suspension of the gameldquoThis was our first stadium visit And we were looking forward to watching the full game But the rain ruined it all I donrsquot feel like visiting the stadium anymore Both I and my wife are cricket aficionados we are on our honeymoon trip This was a short leave and I have to report back to duty on Friday This is why we want to make the most of it So my wife suggested that we go on a cruise tour insteadrdquo said Ashwin Bhatia an Army jawan by professionThe silvergrey clouds may have enveloped the sky completely but the Bhatias hoped favourable weather conditions would prevail in the next few hours lsquoWe spotted a steady stream of fans converging on Pallekele in the afternoon sun The clock struck 12hellipand the weather had started to improve Who knew the match would be washed out at last But at least we were lucky to watch the first inningsrdquoAs the sun peeked through the clouds during the toss the atmosphere inside the stadium gradually intensified Both Indian and Pakistani players began to filter out for a warmup ahead of the highoctane clash as the spirited chants and cheers continued to resonate through the stadiumAlso ReadAsia Cup 2023 Another chapter in India vs Pakistan rivalryIt was a subdued start from the Men in Blue but that could barely quieten the crowd with every boundary bringing the fans to their feet in an undulating swath of blue and green The first rain delay did little to dampen the spirits with skipper Rohit on 11 and opening partner Shubman Gill on nought being at the crease Before the second rain interruption Indiarsquos toporder collapse ensured the Pakistani fans had something to cheer for However after another downpour forced Ishan and Gill off the field there was something of a lull when the action restartedldquoBy that time we knew this would eventually cost us the match I think most of us had lost interest by then I was scheduled to return to Delhi later that night so I had no choice but to stay backrdquo said Vikas Mehta director of a sports promoter group After the match was abandoned Vikas decamped to a coffee shop close by until it was time to board his flight back home With rain not allowing any further action the teams were forced to share one point each The rain gods heavily favoured Pakistan once more as Babar Azam and Co qualified for the Super Four stage with no inning being playedPallekele has been largely free of rain in the two days preceding Saturdayrsquos game The weather is believed to slightly improve in time for Mondayrsquos match but beyond that it looks as bleak as ever In case this match suffers a similar fate as Saturday India and Nepal will earn one point each With two points secured from the league round India will thus qualify for the Super Four stageBarring the first Super Four stage in Lahore on September 6 talks are on for shifting the remaining matches from Colombo to Dambulla which is in Sri Lankas dry zone The players might have to keep themselves matchready in case the sky clears up at all Meanwhile as Vikas aptly points out fans may find themselves more accustomed to reading and hearing about rain updates than cricket scores