Southampton (England): The cricket fanatics across the world are eagerly waiting for the start of the World Test Championship (WTC) final Friday between India and New Zealand. India is a cricket-crazy country and people are just waiting for the first ball to be bowled. They are waiting for the toss and to see which team opts to bat or bowl first.
However, there is bad news for the fans. The WTC final may not start on time today (Friday). In fact the entire first day’s play may also be washed out due to what is being called ‘Southampton’ weather.
Summer in England is very fickle. The sun and the rain continuously play hide and seek. It is this time of the year when England sees extensive rainfall and Southampton is not an exception to the rule. As expected, forecast of rain during Friday has already started acting as a spoilsport to the WTC final.
The weather update in Southampton, to be honest, does not look promising. Until Wednesday, the sun was out at its peak before things declined from Thursday. Since Thursday evening there have been drizzles as well as heavy rains in Southampton. The weather forecast for Friday states that it may rain all through the day. If it happens then it is bye bye to all the excitement.
The WTC final is scheduled for June 18-22 and an extra day has been kept in reserve. So one can only hope that the weather will clear as soon as possible.
The rain also puts India at a further disadvantage. As it is, the India team are going into the WTC final without any match practice for the longest format of the game for a long time. New Zealand, on the other hand, have warmed up for the WTC final, by playing two Tests against England and winning the series.
India were hoping that they would derive advantage from the fact that without rains they will be able to play on a dry pitch. They were also hoping that without clouds, the Kiwi pacers wouldn’t be able to trouble them with seam and swing. Now however, India would have to relook at the situation if the rains persist. Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri have some serious rethinking to do.