Asia Cup 2023: Jasprit Bumrah rejoins India squad in Colombo ahead of Pakistan clash

Jasprit Bumrah has linked up with the Indian team after a brief detour from the Asia Cup to attend the birth of his first child. He flew from Mumbai and landed in Colombo in the early hours of September 8 ahead of India’s Super Four clash against Pakistan in the capital city, scheduled on September 10.

Bumrah had flown back home for his paternal duty after the September 2 group-stage game against Pakistan in Pallekele, which yielded no result courtesy of incessant rain at the venue. He missed out on India's second group game against Nepal on September 4, being replaced by Mohammed Shami in the XI that crushed Nepal by 10 wickets in a truncated game to advance to the Super Four.

Meanwhile, the pace spearhead will be a part of India’s practice at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Friday evening, with the team expected to practice indoors owing to the weather forecast, which suggests rain on the day. However, if the recent weather trend is an indicator, the conditions may improve later in the evening, giving Rohit Sharma & brigade a chance to practice outdoors in full swing.

Check: Asia Cup 2023 Live Updates- Pakistan vs India, Super 4, 3rd Match

Reserve day for India-Pakistan clash after Pallekele washout

In other news, a reserve day has been added to India-Pakistan's Super Four clash on September 11, which is a no-game day otherwise. As per the initial plan, only the tournament finale, set for September 17, had the said provision. However, with rains forecast in Colombo in the upcoming week - and the weather having affected both India games hitherto, with the clash against Pakistan ending in no result and India chasing a revised target in a shortened affair against Nepal - the India-Pakistan Super Four will be the lone game in addition to the finale with a reserve day.

It is understood that even in case of a weather intervention, all possible attempts will be made to complete the fixture on the scheduled day, even if it means shortening the game. The reserve day will be triggered only if there is either no play possible at all or the weather does not permit the intervened game to be resumed on the scheduled day. On the reserve day, however, the game shall start afresh if it did not commence on the original day, or resume from where it was halted on the previous day. 

Even though this is not the monsoon season in Sri Lanka, the Colombo weather forecast is not too positive for the coming few days, with an 85 per cent chance of precipitation on September 9, the day of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh's Super Four game, and a 90 per cent chance on September 10. 

It was due to this reason the ACC briefly mulled over shifting the tournament out of Colombo, with Dambulla and Hambantota considered as an alternative option. But the idea was put to rest owing to the logistical issues such a significant last-minute alteration was leading to, not to mention SLC's inclination towards the capital city as "a lot of fans had already made arrangements to watch the matches in Colombo".

Check: Asia Cup 2023 Live Weather Updates: Pakistan vs India Super 4, 3rd Match