It was deja vu for some of the Indian players as they alighted from the aircraft at the Trivandrum international airport.
The wet runway and light drizzle brought back memories of India’s T20I match against New Zealand at the Sports Hub in 2017.
The persistent rain on the match day resulted in a truncated contest which India won narrowly.
The capacity crowd which stayed till the end, braving the rain, was praised by the India captain Virat Kohli who was also impressed by the excellent drainage facilities in the stadium.
With the rain lashing the city on Saturday after a brief lull, and with the forecast for more rain on Sunday, the second T20I against the West Indies is in danger of being affected by the weather.
Sell-out crowd
It will be another sell-out crowd which will witness the match and it will be hugely disappointed if the rain plays spoilsport.
The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) received a bounty in ticket sales when Sanju Samson found his way into the 15-member squad following an injury to Shikhar Dhawan.
Though Sanju is unlikely to figure in the playing eleven, the support for the Men in Blue will be enormous. The pitch at the sports hub is likely to be a batting beauty, according to chief curator A.M. Biju.
Last week’s rain impeded pitch preparation, but the last few days’ sunny weather enabled the groundsmen to complete their work.
Now their mood has slowly turned sombre in the evening and they have their task cut out on Sunday.
