Rain threat looms large over Asia Cup

“Not the best time to play crick-cut, is it,” mocked the amicable cab driver on the three-plus hour journey to Pallekele from Colombo. 

His comments were taken lightly for, though it was overcast, it didn’t look threatening. And then, it rained, but it was no ordinary shower, this. This is the kind of rain which forces everyone to take cover, and those in cars to wonder if this was their last ride. 

It was powerful, but it also made it plenty obvious that this Asia Cup was going to get a fair few truncated games, a hardly ideal scenario given the importance of this tournament to those headed to the World Cup in October. 

Every forecast channel in every language maintained a ‘rain is expected’ memo, but Wednesday didn’t see a spell. It was warm and humid with a staleness to the wind, prompting the locals to suggest that a big spell was around the corner. 

Even as the evening wore on, there was no sign of it. “You just wait sir, it’ll come properly at night,” said an impish tuk-tuk driver. 

But as we rode past a giant screen televising Pakistan’s opener against Nepal at a playground, it was clear that the locals would want this tournament to happen without too many hindrances. 

They have had plenty of surviving to do during the course of the economic crisis not so long back, and now they have something to look forward to. 

The ground with the screen was full, and the Pallekele stadium is expected to be too, but should it begin to rain, especially the way that it did a couple of days ago, there’s not much chance of ‘crick-cut’ happening, at least for that night.