India captain Rohit Sharma and senior batter Virat Kohli lauded the R Premadasa Stadium’s groundstaff after India vs Pakistan offered a result in the Asia Cup. A rain-affected game, which had multiple interruptions over two days, saw India defeat Pakistan by a record margin of 228 runs – after 58 overs of play was possible on Monday, 11 September.
Asia Cup 2023: Points Table
India vs Pakistan came to a halt on Sunday – the original day of the fixture after rain came bucketing down in the 25th over of the first innings. The Colombo groundstaff worked hard between 4:53 PM (game stoppage) to 8:30 PM (3rd umpire inspection) to save the ground from thundershowers. Just when it seemed like Sunday would see the resumption of the game, the clouds opened themselves up once again to put water on any hopes.
On Monday, the showers were persistent in the morning and the commentators were surprised to find that the covers had been put so well before the showers arrived that the ground underneath had remained quite dry.
The groundstaff used fans and lights to dry up the wet patches and full overs of play was possible on Monday.
“A loud shout out to all the groundsmen for the work they have put in to make this game possible. They did a fantastic job,” said Virat Kohli while accepting his player of the match award.
Sharma, on the other hand expressed how important it was for his team to get some time in the middle and lauded the staff for their efforts.
“We are happy to get some game time. Lot of guys did not have game time and that was great support from the groundsman as well. From the word go, they were right on the money. I know how difficult it was to come and do the job, do it the next day. We would like to thank them as a team,” Sharma said in the post match presentation.
“It was important to get some game time. It was more possible due to these guys who have put in the effort,” Sharma further added.
Groundstaff are expected to be called into action once again in India’s Super 4 game vs Sri Lanka, set to be played on Tuesday, 12 September.
