An India-Pakistan encounter is likely to bring you to the edge of your seat. But this time around -- October 23's T20 World Cup clash -- there's a chance you might sulk. Sunday's weather report has a bummer in store for sub-continental cricket loyalists. To put it straight -- there's a 65 per cent chance that it will rain.
If you're to look up Accuweather, Melbourne is expected to be under a wet spell starting October 21.
Even if rain decides to subside, a cloud cover is expected to remain, which might sound like good news for the fast bowlers.
Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam should ideally be prepared with alternative strategies just in case the match is curtailed or conditions play spoilsport.
India's run so far
Mohammad Shami put the concerns over his fitness to rest with a sensational 20th over as India pulled off a six-run win over Australia in their first warm-up fixture on Monday.
KL Rahul (57 off 33) and Suryakumar Yadav (50 off 33) smashed entertaining half-centuries to power India to 186 for seven after Australia opted to bowl at the Gabba.
Needing 16 runs off the last 12 balls with six wickets in hand, Australia were on course for a comfortable win before Shami, Harshal Patel and Virat Kohli the fielder scripted a turnaround for India.
Shami, who last played a competitive game in July and landed here after suffering a long bout of COVID-19, turned up to bowl the last over of the game and made a decisive impact on the game.
He landed yorker after yorker and ended up with three wickets in the over besides a run out. Shami was drafted into the squad as a replacement for the injured Jasprit Bumrah.
In the penultimate over, under-fire Harshal Patel delivered after being hammered early on, as he conceded only five runs in an over that also included a brilliant run out off a Kohli direct hit.
The star India batter had also plucked a stunning one-handed catch out of thin air at the boundary line to dismiss Pat Cummins.
However, concerns over India's bowling remains ahead of their tournament opener against Pakistan on October 23.
"There is room for improvement, but I want more consistency from the bowlers. You need to keep things simple and hit the deck hard. Overall a good game for us, they had a decent partnership and that put us under pressure," said skipper Rohit Sharma.
On Shami's match-winning effort, he said: "He is coming back after a long time, so we wanted to give him an over. Wanted to give him a challenge and let him bowl the final over, and you saw what he did."
