India vs Pakistan ICC T20 World Cup Match: What if match is cancelled due to rain?
The most awaited clash of the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup takes place in Kolkata today as arch-rivals India and Pakistan faces each other in the all-important encounter. The match was originally scheduled to be played in Dharamsala but due to security reasons, it was shifted to Kolkata.
But the news from Kolkata is slightly concerning for the cricket lovers across the world in terms of the weather. After a brief sunny period early in the morning, dark clouds took over and there was a light drizzle for a while. However, things cleared up a bit and it is partially sunny in the city at the moment.
With the possibility of a wash-out on the cards here is what can happen. This is a ‘do or die’ match for the hosts as a loss may knock them out of the tournament after their loss against New Zealand.
If the match gets canceled due to rain both the neighbors will share a point each in Group 2. Pakistan already have 2 points after their 55 run win over Bangladesh will be on 3 points from two games.
On the other hand, India will have only 1 as they lost the tournament opener against the Kiwis by 47 runs which will not be great news for the Indian cricket team. In the case of wash-out today, India will have to win both their remaining matches against Australia and Bangladesh by a big margin.
But those two wins won’t be enough to see them through as they have to rely on other fixtures as well. Pakistan have to lose one of their remaining matches by a big margin. Australia will also have to lose another match and current Group leaders New Zealand have to maintain their winning streak.
These results will take both India and Pakistan to 5 points and then the net run-rate will come into play as only top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-finals of the tournament. The importance of big wins is immense in that scenario for the teams to qualify for the semi-finals.
One can safely conclude that it is in the best interest of India cricket team to win the match today, and in case the match is washed out, they would be watching each of the remaining games of this group and praying for the desired result.