India tried to start their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign with the warm-up match against the white-ball giants and defending champions England at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. But heavy rain resulted in the abandonment of the match without even a ball bowled. Indian captain Rohit Sharma had won the toss and had decided to bat first but the match could not be started due to rain. Another warm-up match between Australia and the Netherlands was also rain-interrupted but the good news is that the match will start shortly. It will be a 23-overs-per-side match. Check scores and updates of the AUS Vs NED warm-up match HERE. (Streaming | Cricket News)
6:00 pm: AUS Vs NED Match to be 23-over a side match
AUS Vs NED match will be a 23-overs per-side match.
Match Abandoned!!
5:40 pm: The IND Vs ENG Match has been abandoned without a ball bowled (With Toss)
It's now official. The umpires see no purpose in hanging around as the rain continues to fall. The game has been cancelled. There is no doubt that either team will protest much, for different reasons. India has lately played a lot of white-ball cricket, while England appears to be fatigued from the journey. India's next warm-up game is against the Netherlands on Tuesday in Thiruvananthapuram. England will meet Bangladesh in Guwahati on Monday. The weather forecast for both games does not seem promising. Let us all hope for the best.
Start delayed due to rain
3:50 pm: Drizzle is back
Rain is not stopping here. Drizzles are back. The cut-off time for the match to start is around 7:30 pm but it is looking like it will be abandoned much earlier.
3:15 pm: Finally, there is some good news. The rain has stopped, and the sky appears to be considerably brighter than it was 20 minutes ago.
1:59 pm: Oh, no! It's becoming quite dismal. It has also begun to rain in a couple of seconds. The groundstaff rushes in with the coverings, and it looks like about 60% of the ground is now covered.
India have won the toss and have opted to bat
Rohit Sharma: We gonna bat first. No particular reason, it's very hot out there. Just want to make sure that our bowlers stay fresh and bowl under the lights which is not gonna be so taxing for the bowlers. Because we have been playing a lot of cricket off late, so just want to make sure that we are looking after them
Toss time: Buttler calls heads and it comes down as tails...
1:00 local: Hello, everyone! With less than a week until the big event, the warm-up round provides a fantastic opportunity for teams to experiment and test alternative tactics and combinations. India, the hosts and possibly the favourite, will be in play today. They will face reigning champions England, who will be eager to complete all of their preparations before the tournament start against New Zealand. Live images show a pumped-up Indian squad warming up in Guwahati in sunny, hot circumstances. Stay tuned for further information...
Squads
England Squad: Dawid Malan, Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w/c), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Liam Livingstone, David Willey, Reece Topley, Gus Atkinson
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur
Need to come up with the best-playing XI
Rohit Sharma-led Indian team have a good mixture of young and veterans. Whom to play at the 4th number batting position is a good headache to have for the Indian side, but they will try to come up with the answers for that also as Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul both have scored centuries at that position in the last few matches.
England side led by Jos Buttler is the most lethal team of the tournament with Ben Stokes coming back from retirement. The batting side looking strong England will try to come up with a good bowling department as conditions are a bit different in India as compared to England.
