India - Pakistan Asia Cup fixture moves to reserve day

Broadcasters, fans, spectators - everyone ended the day with disappointment as rain forced Sunday's encounter between India and Pakistan to be postponed to Monday.  

With heavy rains predicted for the day, ACC prepared for it in advance by announcing a reserve day for the encounter, out of turn. This made the Ind - Pak fixture to be the only other game to have a reserve day barring the finals on 17th. 

Earlier in the day, Pakistan won the toss and opted to field. Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill put paid to the opposition's plans of getting early wickets as they put on India's 13th century opening stand against Pakistan - the joint most (Australia) for any nation.

Rain first announced itself at the end of the 16th over, with India in a superior position at 118/0. Unfortunately, the break once against turned out to be the skipper's undoing as he was sent packing in the first over post resumption, just like the previous encounter between these two teams. 

Shaheen Afridi then got rid of Shubman in the very next over, with Pakistan sending both the set batters back to pavillion in no time. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli then began rebuilding the innings with a cautious 38-ball-24 partnership before rain had it's final say. 

Thanks to the reserve day, play will now resume for 24.1 overs at 3 PM tomorrow, assuming an entire day's play is possible. However, heavy rains have been forecasted for tomorrow as well, with India yet to play a game not affected by rain. 

Post Monday, India are scheduled to play Sri Lanka the very next day at the very same venue, while Pakistan will also taken on the hosts on the 14th in Colombo.

You can also check the Asia Cup 2023 schedule out here