R. Premadasa Stadium weather forecast today: What are the chances of rain during the India vs Bangladesh match?
The final Super Four game of the Asia Cup 2023 will see Team India square off against Bangladesh in Colombo on Friday. It is a dead rubber considering that India and Sri Lanka have already made it to Sunday's final at the same venue.
Both teams will look to test their bench strength given that the ICC ODI World Cup is round the corner. The Bangla Tigers, meanwhile, will miss veteran wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim, who returned to the country to be with his wife, who gave birth to their second child.
The weather remains under the spotlight once again as it has been throughout the Sri Lankan leg of the Asia Cup. The forecast suggests that there is a chance of thunderstorms during the game, which might disrupt proceedings. The groundsmen would be called into action once again, who have had a busy week doing all the hard work.
The temperature will hover between 28 and 31 degrees Celsius. However, the actual feeling would be a bit higher due to humidity, which is expected to be in the 90s.
The expected chance of showers is around 60 percent with heavy clouds around the stadium in Colombo.
"Not very easy to leave out someone like Shami" - India's bowling coach Paras Mhambrey
Team India have had to do the difficult job of leaving out Mohammed Shami from the playing XI in the ongoing Asia Cup to strengthen its batting order.
It is always difficult to leave out a player of Shami's stature but bowling coach Paras Mhambrey asserted that the bowler understands the requirements of the team.
"It’s extremely difficult, it’s not very easy to leave out someone like Shami," Mhambrey told reporters on Thursday. "You know with the experience he has, the performances he has done for the country, it’s phenomenal. So it’s never easy to have that kind of conversation."
“We are very clear in terms of the way we have gone about the communication that we have with the players," he added. "Any decision that we have taken, the player knows the intent where we come from and anything is for the benefit of the team. So a particular player knows why he is not in the team is a particular reason why he is not in the team and it’s always difficult to leave someone like him."
Does Mohammed Shami deserve a chance in India's playing XI for the game against Bangladesh? Let us know in the comment section.