Florida (USA): Hold on to your cricket caps because with a 77 per cent chance of rain on match day, 9 am to 1 pm, followed by thunder, lightning and storm deep into the evening, India will meet Canada in their last Group stage match which might just turn into a synchronised swimming event.
The torrential rain has come down at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in such an unrelenting cascade for the past week that instead of blistering cover drives by a raring-to-go Virat Kohli and toe-crushing yorkers by Jasprit Bumrah, we might see the teams building arks and rowing across the pitch.
Though the rain has held so on match eve, the ground at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium is wetter than a fish's handshake, and the outfield is as risky as trying to catch a greased pig, for now.
If play happens, Rohit Sharma and his men could well use the occasion for testing their bench strength, especially of spinners, before they head to the Caribbean’s equally challenging playing conditions, for the business end of the tournament.
The team’s major worries include an unusually limited Virat Kohli in the opening slot, so far struggling to cross the single-digit figure and once walking to an unprecedented golden duck in pitch-overwhelmed slow thrillers at New York.
Similar has been the case of most of the batting line-up which has been ribboned on occasion, the matches being saved by a wondrous performance of the bowling unit, spearheaded by Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah.
At Florida, where the pitch conditions are expected to be more benign, Sharma would look for some bat tuning by the star aggressor Kohli who has been feeling the heat with rare comedowns in the marquee event, especially after a blistering Indian Premier League (IPL) outing where he set the stadia ablaze with his 700 plus runs and a tantalising strike rate of 150.
A lot has been put on Kohli’s bat for India to come into a winning spot after a 13-year trophy famine, and Sharma getting his World Cup crown as skipper, in what looks like the last T20 World Cup appearance for both the flashy veterans.
After Kohli and his gear took the trans-Atlantic flight, there has been a depression in runs where King Kohli has scored runs at an average of just 1.66, reflecting imploding storms and outpours much like the Floria-sky.
At the opening slot, the cheap dismissals of Kohli and slim ones by Sharma have tested the strength of the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube and Surya Kumar Yadav, who have shown up a resilient spine on extremely difficult outings at Nassau County.
While Pant has had handsome-looking outings of match-saving 36 and 42 runs against Ireland and Pakistan, Surya’s differently enabled 50 in 49 balls was a specimen of diffidence by Mr 360 degrees who adopted the uncharacteristic trait of patience against the USA to help India win the day.
Dube, on the other hand, has been struggling to make a bat statement to justify his much-talked about selection over Rinku Singh and being given a spot ahead of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Sampson.
Flying into the Caribbean, Sharma may well use the occasion to give some match practice to his spin quartet, two of whom in Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, have been waiting in the wings for the slow turners that grounds in the West Indies are known for.
Coming to Canada, almost out of the tournament with one win and two losses, will hope for a rain-dance miracle to end their campaign with a splash. They defeated Ireland but lost to Pakistan and the host team.
They will meet India, who are so far unbeaten in the tournament having defeated Ireland, Pakistan and the USA in their three Group stage matches, for the first time in a T20 World Cup.
Led by Pakistan-born Saad-bin-Zafar, and having an eclectic mix of players of Indian descent, like Nicholas Kirton and Navneet Dhaliwal who have 50 runs on their bats against the USA, propelling a score of 194 on board which was chased down by the USA, Canada could well use the occasion to polish their fledgling skills and learn from the best team in the business if the rain Gods get accommodating.
So, will it be cricket or a water ballet? Tune in to find out and do keep an umbrella handy!
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