India vs Afghanistan 1st T20I at Mohali May Get Cancelled Due to Fog, Dew; Check Weather Forecast
Mohali: As harsh as it may sound, the much-awaited opening T20I between India and Afghanistan, set to take place on Thursday, may get cancelled. It is not rain that is going to play spoilsport, but the cold wave in the northern part of India. With it being the winter season, the mercury levels are low – to make things worse – there is fog and dew to contend with as well. Traditionally, the northern part of the country does not stage cricket matches during the winter season. Despite the floodlights there in place, the game may get cancelled due to poor visibility.
PCA hosts matches during winters, but they are during the day time. But, the game between India and Afghanistan, is set to start at 7:00 PM IST.
Thursday Forecast
On the day of the game, the minimum temperature would be around 5-6 degrees Celsius with heavy dew settling in after sunset, not to forget foggy conditions for the game to played under floodlights from 7pm.
The PCA management is ready to combat dew on the pitch. Head curator Rakesh Kumar said: “PCA has been hosting domestic matches in the winter but they are held during the day. Thankfully, the fog has lessened in the last two-three days. As far as dew is concerned, we will be using Aspa chemical on the ground from today to keep the dew away. It is a wetting agent and has been successfully used in the past.”
“It is great that PCA has got another international game within three months. A team of 11 groundsmen are working hard to make the game a success,” he added.
The three matches against Afghanistan would be India’s last chance of figuring out their side for the marquee event later in the year. A few players like Sanju Samson would know that they could make it to the T20I WC squad if they can put up a good show in the series against Afghanistan.
India’s Squad For Afghanistan T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.