IND vs PAK: How has Team India performed in reserve day matches in the past?

Rain, rain and a lot of rain! That has been the story of the Asia Cup 2023 so far, Team India’s matches in particular. Sunday, September 10 was the third occasion when it rained during the match in the ongoing continental tournament and every single time, the game featured India. The first game against Pakistan was a washout, the second game was a shortened match against Nepal and the third one would have been called off too, if not for the reserve day which came into being in a questionable manner. 

But it is what it is and Monday, September 11 provides another opportunity for the groundsmen to challenge the weather gods as the forecast for the reserve day too isn’t looking good with a 90 per cent chance of rain. However, the stakeholders will hope that somehow a result is achieved given, there are 24 overs less to be bowled. 

This is the fifth time that the Indian team will be playing a match on a reserve day and the sixth time that India will be involved in a reserve day game if the IPL 2023 final is taken into account.

The first time India played on reserve day was the 1999 World Cup match against England in Birmingham, which the Men in Blue ended up winning owing to Sourav Ganguly’s all-round performance. In fact, that was the only match that went to reserve day and India ended up on the winning side.

Three years later, the India-Sri Lanka Champions Trophy 2002 final went to the reserve day and the rain washed out that too with both teams sharing the trophy. The next two games don’t bear good news as most of the fans are aware of the same because of them being so recent.

The India-New Zealand World Cup 2019 semi-final against New Zealand is still a heartbreaking memory for many since it ended up being MS Dhoni’s final international match. Two years later, it was the same host country, the same opposition and the same result as New Zealand ended up winning the World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2021 on the sixth day against Virat Kohli-led side. 

It’s 1-2 against India and the Men in Blue will hope to level things up on Monday, September 11 against Pakistan.

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