At Lucknow’s Ekana Cricket Stadium on Thursday, the first of a three-match series between South Africa and India will be played. Shikhar Dhawan will serve as the hosts’ captain, and Temba Bavuma will serve as the Proteas’ captain. Will the first ODI in Lucknow be marred by a downpour? On Wednesday, the day before the game, India’s practise session was cancelled owing to rain, and more rain is expected on Thursday.
The toss will take place at 1 PM IST, and the game is scheduled to begin at 1:30 PM IST. According to Accuweather, 94% cloud cover is anticipated around 1 PM, and the radar also indicates 1.6mm of precipitation. There would be about 82 percent humidity. It is anticipated that there will be cloud cover throughout day. More rain is predicted to fall again at 3 PM, so it will be interesting to see whether a drizzle or downpour ruins the game.
It is crucial to note that the primary team has left for Australia for the forthcoming T20 World Cup as the backup side prepares for the ODI series. On Thursday morning, the team lead by Rohit Sharma departed for Australia. Stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan stated on Wednesday that all of the T20 World Cup reserve players competing in the South Africa ODI series would like to utilise the three matches to establish themselves as candidates for the starting lineup. Since Jasprit Bumrah has already been ruled out, the series may come down to a match between Deepak Chahar, who is on the stand-by list, and Mohammed Siraj, who may be added if Mohammed Shami is unable to regain match fitness by October 15.
The Indian squad has named Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, and Chahar as standbys who will travel to Australia for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup as backups. “Of course, it is very important because the more matches they (standby players) are going to play, they will be in better groove and better mindset. If the boys perform well, then obviously the confidence will help them. Who knows they might get a chance so they can look at this series as preparation,” Dhawan said here on the eve of the first game.
