Rain saved Pakistan: Shoaib Akhtar in viral video

Former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar, who is known to be quite outspoken, is once again in the news for his comments. This time, a video is going viral on the internet in which he could be saying that the rain saved Pakistan.

"I came to watch the match, we were all waiting, Indian and Pakistani fans. Rain saved us. India were in trouble the other day. Rain saved India. Today, we were in trouble and, thanks to Allah, rain saved us," Akhtar said in the video.



The match between India and Pakistan in the Super Four stage of Asia Cup 2023 was called off and moved for a reserve day as rain did not allow any play after 24.1 overs on Sunday. The play was halted for almost four hours today as the rain kept on coming back. India will resume their innings today at 147/2, with Virat Kohli (8*) and KL Rahul (17*) unbeaten. Skipper Rohit Sharma (56) and Shubman Gill (58) had hit delightful fifties.

However, there were reports of heavy rains in Colombo today too. The skies are also extremely cloudy.

According to reports, R Premadas Stadium's onfield has received immense damage, with noticeable wet patches. More rain will only make these patches worse, delay the game further, or even cause abandonment without any further action.

If this match is washed off, India and Pakistan will take one point each. Pakistan will move to the top of the Super Four standings with three points, having won against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka has already registered a win against Bangladesh too, worth two points, almost knocking them out of the competition.

In this case, India's next two matches against Sri Lanka (September 12) and Bangladesh (September 15) will be must-win matches for India and reach a total of five points.

Losing even one of these matches or two more washouts will reduce India to just three points, which will put India's qualifying chances in danger. It will be down to how the points table plays out for the rest of the teams due to their results, rain and net-run-rate if India is to qualify for the final with three points.

India vs Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka vs Pakistan and India vs Bangladesh are the remaining fixtures before the finals on September 17 in Colombo.