India vs Australia 2023 weather update: Mohali weather report for September 22 for IND vs AUS 1st ODI
Team India will square off against Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium on Friday. This is the final leg of preparations for both teams ahead of the ICC ODI World Cup, which starts next month.
While the Men in Blue would be tempted to audition Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar, the visitors will look to give maximum game time to players returning from injury. The likes of Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, and Glenn Maxwell all missed the South Africa series and will look to get into rhythm before the World Cup.
With the 50-over showpiece event on the horizon, India and Australia will want a full game of cricket to test their strength. Thus, all eyes will be on the weather in Mohali on Friday.
According to Accuweather, there is no chance of precipitation at all in the forecast. Thus, a full 100-over game is on the cards, much to the excitement of fans. The cloud cover is expected to be around 15 percent on average.
The temperature will hover between 26 and 24 degrees Celsius. However, the actual feeling would be four to five degrees higher than the original temperature due to excess humidity, which is likely to be in the 80s.
All in all, hot and humid conditions await players in Mohali and they will have to keep themselves hydrated to last the whole game.
"These decisions are made in discussions with them" - India head coach Rahul Dravid on resting senior cricketers
Team India have rested the big guns for the first two ODIs against Australia, including skipper Rohit Sharma, vice-captain Hardik Pandya, and star batter Virat Kohli.
Head coach Rahul Dravid stated that the decisions have been made after taking them into confidence. Addressing reporters ahead of the first ODI, Dravid said:
"People like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma specifically, from our perspective, it’s really important to get them to that World Cup in physically and mentally in the space that they want to be in."
"They know how they need to prepare themselves and lot of these decisions are made in discussions with them and senior and more experienced guys have their routines and know how they want to prepare in the lead up to a big event like the World Cup," he added.
Will the decision the leave Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma out of the squad hurt India? Let us know in the comment section.