India Vs Pak

Rain subsides, keeping hopes of Indo-Pak showdown alive

Afridi-and-Virat-during-the-practice-at-Eden4 Pakistan's captain Shahid Afridi with Virat Kohli during their training session at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday | Salil Bera
  • The fans' confidence about the game remaining unaffected by possible rain stems from the Sourav Ganguly led Cricket Association of Bengal overhauling the Eden Gardens drainage system.

Thunderstorm and heavy showers that lashed the city on Saturday hours before the high-voltage India- Pakistan World Twenty20 clash have subsided, raising hopes of the match going ahead in Kolkata.

Rain in the morning was followed by a thundershower around 4:30pm, three hours before the highly-anticipated encounter between the two traditional rivals.

Groundsmen were busy with mopping up operations overseen by Cricket Association of Bengal President Sourav Ganguly, a former India captain. Legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan was also seen at the ground with Ganguly.

The iconic Eden Gardens has a new drainage system now and has also brought high-quality covers from the UK to ensure that rain disruptions don't damage the outfield.

Already, a number of spectators have thronged the ground expecting and are hoping that there will be no curtailment in the overs for the crucial must-win tie for India.

As per ICC regulations, the curtailment of overs will start only if 45 minutes are lost to rains and umpires will wait till at least 10:15pm before calling off the game.

If the match is washed out completely, both teams will get a point each.

"Rain Gods threaten to visit the #IndvsPak match at Kolkata! If it rains, Mauka to celebrate #EarthHour without any guilt :)," tweeted a netizen.

Even megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who is scheduled to render the national anthem of India at the inaugural ceremony, advocated switching off lights.

"Earth Hour is today. Switch off and sign up to make #climatechange history at http://www.earthhour.inA," he tweeted.

The fans' confidence about the game remaining unaffected by possible rain stems from the Sourav Ganguly led Cricket Association of Bengal overhauling the Eden Gardens drainage system. In the past, Eden Gardens had been notorious for matches being abandoned due to showers.

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Topics : #World T20 2016