Rain frustrates all as players question choice of venue

Bowlers and batsmen alike expressed their displeasure at lack of action

KARACHI: As rain continues to hamper proceedings, the players at the National One-Day Cup for regions have expressed frustration at the choice of city for the event, with all four matches of the fifth round on Monday being washed out due to rain.

As many as six of the total 20 matches have been washed out completely, with another 12 being reduced to some extent either due to rain or due to wet outfield. All this means that so far, after five rounds of four games each, only two matches have had the possibility of each side playing 50 overs each.

The players in the leading teams feel the matches should have been placed in a city where the weather conditions were better than what they currently are in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.



“We have been doing pretty well so getting a match washed out and getting one point is not good enough for a team that has aspirations of winning the tournament,” said a player, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “The management must have seen the weather conditions of the city in the dates of the tournament and still selected these cities.”

A player, who was also part of the National One-Day Cup for departments that was held in Karachi and Hyderabad, feels those cities are much more suitable for cricket this time of the year.

“In the southern areas of the country, the weather conditions are much better and comparatively dry,” he said. “Some of the wickets there were really bad for playing but overall the tournament was much better than this.”



He also added that the rain puts a lot of pressure on the players and the think-tank has to scrap whatever game plan they had. “The strategy that we have devised for the full 50 overs gets disturbed when the overs and reduced and the field is wet,” he said.

Bowlers and batsmen alike were unhappy with the weather conditions, saying that the rain also affects their concentration and performance.