India’s cricket team captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 warm-up match between India and England, which got called off due to rain, in Guwahati, September 30, 2023. PTI
Guwahati, September 30
Persistent rain on Saturday washed out the World Cup warm-up match between India and England at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium here.
It began raining a little before the start of the match on Saturday afternoon, which resulted in the toss being delayed but later in the evening the umpires decided to abandon the contest, a little before 6pm local time owing to inclement weather.
All 10 teams will get to play two warm-up matches each before the group stage of the 50-over World Cup which gets underway in Ahmedabad on October 5.
England will face New Zealand in the World Cup opener.
England, who arrived in India a day before their first warm-up match, will remain in Guwahati to play their second and final warm-up game against Bangladesh on October 2.
On the other hand, India, who travelled all the way to Guwahati on Thursday after completing a 2-1 series win over Australia, will now fly to Thiruvananthapuram for their second warm-up match against the Netherlands on October 3.
The warm-up matches began on Friday with Sri Lanka suffering a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh here, while New Zealand defeated Pakistan in a high-scoring contest in Hyderabad.
The warm-up matches are being played at three venues Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad.