After whitewashing the Windies in the Caribbean Islands, India will look to start the three-match T20 International home series against South Africa on a positive note. But when the Men in Blue take the field at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday, the weather is likely to play a spoilsport in the series opener.
It has been raining in Dharamsala for the last 3 days and there will be a problem of wet outfield throughout the first T20I. PTI has reported that a spell of afternoon thundershowers lashed the Himachal Pradesh hill city on Sunday.
The bad weather forced the Indian players to practice indoor in Dharamsala on Saturday. The weather forecast says isolated thunderstorms and light showers may make their appearance on Sunday but the sky will be clearer by the evening.
The first T20I is scheduled to start at 7 PM IST, during which the sky is expected to be partly cloudy. With the passing hours, the sky is expected to be clear.
Under these conditions, dew might play a role in the evening encounter. The pitch too might not get to see much of sunlight before the game, and thus the toss-winner might look to bowl in Dharamsala.
Here’s the weather forecast of Dharamsala:
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (c), Rassie van der Dussen (vc), Temba Bauvma, Junior Dala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukyao, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, George Linde.
