After India's high-voltage encounter against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, the Men in Blue will take the field on Thursday for their second fixture of the T20 World Cup slated against the Netherlands. In sharp contrast to India's win over their arch-rivals, the Netherlands succumbed to a defeat against Bangladesh in their Super 12 opener.
While India had played their first game at the iconic MCG, Netherlands' Super 12 opener was scheduled in Hobart. Both teams will now meet in Syndey on October 27.
Notably, before the much-anticipated game between India and Pakistan, there were forecasts of rain during the match day in Melbourne but as it turned out, a full 20-over match happened without any weather interruption on Sunday.
What does the forecast say for India's next match against the Netherlands in Sydney?
As per weather.com, the temperature in Sydney on Thursday is expected to be between 17 to 24 Degree Celsius. While there are chances of rain and thunderstorms from 11:00 am (local time) to 04:00 pm (local time), there are no predictions of rain from 6 pm (local time) onwards which is the scheduled start time for the match.
Fans would hope to see a full game of cricket without rain playing any spoilsport.
Meanwhile, India's bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has hinted that Team India could go ahead with an unchanged Playing XI for their second fixture in the tournament. While there were talks around all-rounder Hardik Pandya being rested, Mhambrey made it clear that they are not looking to drop him and the Gujarat Titans captain himself wants to play all matches.
Squads:
Netherlands: Scott Edwards (c), Colin Ackermann, Shariz Ahmad, Logan van Beek, Tom Cooper, Brandon Glover, Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen, Bas de Leede, Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe, Stephan Myburgh, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O’Dowd, Tim Pringle, Vikram Singh.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami.