India vs Pakistan: One Eye on Weather, India Sweat it Out in Manchester

Manchester: After a week of little cricket, the Indian team had a hit out at a practice session in overcast conditions at the Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday (June 16), a day ahead of their clash against Pakistan.

India last played a match last Sunday, after which their Thursday’s match against New Zealand was washed out by rain in Nottingham without even the toss happening. India had only one training session through the week, on Wednesday; then too, it was only their batsmen who got throwdowns as the bowlers did not risk injury on the wet outfield at Trent Bridge.

Rishabh Pant, who has flown in as cover for the injured Shikhar Dhawan, was present at India’s practice session too. Dhawan too took part in the training activities.

There were plenty of heavy clouds hovering around the Old Trafford stadium, but the forecast is not too threatening. After four days of relentless rain, Manchester saw the sun out for a brief while on Friday afternoon, before light showers came down later in the evening.

On the match day, the forecast is for ‘sunny intervals’ with low chances of precipitation around the afternoon. Rain could hamper proceedings slightly, but it’s unlikely that there will be a complete washout.

India practice until 1pm on Saturday while Pakistan are scheduled to hit the nets from 2pm to 5pm.

India have won two of their three matches, while Pakistan head into Sunday’s match having won only one of their four games.