LONDON: Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat girds for the onslaught of Cyclone Vayu, in faraway England, unseasonal rains have left the ICC and host body ECB at sixes and sevens trying to manage the logistical nightmare the dreary weather has left in its wake.
Three matches have already been abandoned due to rain – two in Bristol in southwest England, one in Southampton in south England – giving this World Cup the dubious honour of already having the most number of washouts in a single edition.
But what’s even more worrying not just for the hosts, but equally for host broadcaster Star Sports, is that there’s now a cloud over India’s next two matches, in which the venues are further north of England.
As Tribune India notes, the real fury of the rain is in the Midlands – after playing New Zealand in Nottingham on Thursday, India will travel further up north to Manchester, where they will play Pakistan on July 16. Both these games are facing the threat of a washout.
India couldn’t practice Tuesday, and it’s unlikely that they would be able to Wednesday, too, for rain is forecast in Nottingham until “at least Wednesday”. Which means that even if the weather clears up on match day on Thursday, the teams will play there without practice.
This will no doubt have the bean counters at Star having to get their calculators out, re-calibrating revenue projections factoring the various possible scenarios that the fallout from Britain’s famously lousy weather could have on Star’s tent-pole property of 2019.
But that remains a worst case scenario. England’s famously unpredictable weather is equally capable of delivering bright sunshine so all the game’s stakeholders, not least Team India’s fanatical fans, will be hoping that when it comes to match day/s, they will be able to sing “Aal Izz Well”.
