The ACC has announced a special reserve day for the marquee India vs Pakistan because of the rain threats in Colombo.
Colombo: Virat Kohli’s love affair with dogs is no longer a secret. The former India captain was seen playing with a puppy midway into the team’s training session at the R Premadasa Stadium on Friday evening, the video of which went viral on social media. After advancing to the Super 4 stage of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023, India are gearing up for the big match against Pakistan on Sunday at this very same venue.
In the video, the Indian players were seen warming up in a football session when the puppy came near them. Captain Rohit Sharma called the puppy to play with them and the animal gleefully accepted the skipper’s order and ran into the mix. Kohli then called the puppy and gave him a few rubs on his back before kicking the football away for the animal to chase.
Meanwhile, the Indian players are leaving no stone unturned in preparation for the Pakistan game. In the group stage against Babar Azam’s men, the Indian top order didn’t put up a fight and the Men in Blue would like to give it against the arch-rivals on Sunday.
Virat Kohli playing with a puppy. [Lakshya Sharma Insta]
– A beautiful video. pic.twitter.com/faOqhWAtvt
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 8, 2023
From throwdowns to video analysis, the Indian batters are making most of the opportunities to prepare against the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf. After the Pakistan game, India will play Sri Lanka (October 12) and Bangladesh (October 15).
Reserve Day For India vs Pakistan Game
Meanwhile, in view of the prevailing weather conditions, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Friday decided to add an exclusive reserve day for the Super 4 match between India and Pakistan, which is scheduled for September 10.
However, there will not be a reserve day for any of the other Super 4 matches in Sri Lanka. It means that if the rain plays spoilsport during marquee clash on September 10, the match can be resumed from the point it was halted on the very next day.
“A reserve day has been incorporated for the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4’s match between Pakistan and India scheduled to take place on 10th September 2023 at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo,” the ACC said in a statement.
“If adverse weather suspends play during the Pakistan vs India game, the match will continue on 11th September 2023 from the point it was suspended,” the statement added. However, the development has irked Sri Lanka and Bangladesh head coaches.
Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurasingha said he was not aware of the reason behind the sudden change. “There is a technical committee (in Asia Cup) represented by every participating country – 6 nations. They might have decided it for some other reason. It is not ideal, and we also would have liked to have an extra day,” he added.
Sri Lankan coach Chris Silverwood said he was surprised when conveyed about the decision to have an extra day for the Indo-Pak match. “Yeah! Look, obviously, I was a little surprised when I heard it first. But we don’t organise the competition, so we can’t do a whole lot about it, right?” asked Silverwood.