After taking a little break from his Asia Cup responsibilities to attend to the birth of his first kid, Jasprit Bumrah has rejoined the Indian team. Just in time for India’s first Super 4 game against Pakistan on Sunday, Bumrah arrived in Colombo early on Friday. He comes just as the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) makes the important declaration of a reserve day for the upcoming match.
Given the continually terrible weather in Colombo, the ACC made a smart choice by scheduling the game for Sunday. The game will be made up on Monday if inclement weather necessitates postponing it on the scheduled day. Because they are back-to-back games, the Super 4 games that come after the final do not have reserve days, but the final does.
Since Bumrah left Sri Lanka immediately after India’s game against Pakistan on September 2, he was unable to participate against Nepal on September 4. However, his recovery perfectly matches the team’s first Super 4 contest.
Bumrah will participate in team practice on Friday night at the R Premadasa Stadium. The Indian team may need to practice indoors, as they did on Thursday, due to the forecasted bad weather, unless, as has been the recent pattern, the weather improves later in the evening. Fortunately, Colombo hasn’t experienced any rain since Friday morning (as of the time of writing), which is optimistic for this evening’s practice.
Colombo is anticipated to have severe rains this week, with a 90% chance of precipitation on Sunday. This explains why the ACC decided to schedule a game of this stature on that particular day. You may remember that the India-Pakistan league game had to be cancelled due to bad weather.
On Saturday, when Sri Lanka plays Bangladesh in the second Super 4 game, there is an 85% probability of rain. The weather is anticipated to play a significant role as the event draws to a close.
India will play Sri Lanka on September 12 and Bangladesh three days later, on September 15, following their match against Pakistan on Sunday. On September 14, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will face off in the penultimate Super 4 matchup before the championship game on September 17. These competitions will all be held in Colombo’s R Premadasa Stadium.
Schedule of the Colombo Leg
September 9: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh
September 10: Pakistan vs India
September 11: Reserve Day
September 12: India vs Sri Lanka
September 14: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
September 15: India vs Bangladesh
September 17: Final
September 18: Reserve Day