cricket

Updated: Aug 03, 2019 09:38 IST

India will begin their life after the World Cup disappointment as they play the first T20I against West Indies at Fort Lauderale in Florida on Saturday. But the weather in the city indicates that the encounter between the two teams could be interrupted by frequent bouts of rainfall. The BCCI posted an image of the stadium on Thursday, in which dark clouds were seen hovering over the ground. “Cloudy here in Florida but a bunch of Indian fans are here to cheer #TeamIndia at practice,” the BCCI wrote in a tweet.

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Cloudy here in Florida but a bunch of Indian fans are here to cheer #TeamIndia at practice 👌🏻👌🏻😎🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/liRkiONWdZ — BCCI (@BCCI) August 1, 2019

The weather forecast of Saturday predicts 80 per cent precipitation in the day with the temperature hovering between 32 and 26. The rainfall is expected to arrive at regular intervals on Saturday with thundershowers expected early on in the morning.

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The weather reports suggests that the match could get frequent interruption due to rain and thunderstorm. It remains to be seen whether the interruption or delays could lead to reduction in the number of overs.

India will begin their preparations for the T20 showpiece event next year with a three-match series against the West Indies beginning here on Saturday. As captain Virat Kohli pointed out before leaving for the Caribbean tour, the main objective of the T20s and the subsequent ODI series against the West Indies is to try out the fringe players who are on selectors’ mind.

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Kohli was expected to be rested for the limited-overs leg of the tour but a full strength squad has been picked barring the absence of star pacer Jasprit Bumrah who will join the side ahead of the Test series beginning August 22. All-rounder Hardik Pandya has been rested for the entire tour. It will be a crucial couple of weeks for Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey, who are back in the mix after being sidelined from India’s 50-over World Cup plans.