After the first T20I between India vs Bangladesh in New Delhi was under a constant threat of being affected by extreme pollution levels in the city till the last moment, it now looks like the second T20I too might be under a cloud to thanks to predictions of a cyclone that might hit Rajkot.
According to weather authorities, the threat of the cyclone ‘Maha’ reaching Rajkot had earlier subsided and was looking like it would move away from the west coast of India, but there may be a change of trajectory which causes it to reach Gujarat.
“Severe cyclonic storm Maha lay centered at 580 kilometers southwest of Diu and 550 km southwest of Veraval,” IMD director Jayanta Sarkar told PTI. “It is most likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and make landfall between Dwarka and Diu on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning with wind speeds of 120 kilometers per hour.
“The storm will cause heavy to very heavy rains in Saurashtra (the region of which Rajkot is a part) and south Gujarat on November 6-7. It is moving towards Oman but will recurve towards Gujarat coast on Monday.”
Should the cyclone reach Rajkot, the possibility of the match being played remains extremely slim and would pose bad news to India who would be desperate to make a comeback into the series after losing the first T20I.
Mushfiqur Rahman singlehandedly fired Bangladesh to their maiden T20 win over India in New Delhi on Sunday with an unbeaten 60, choking the fancied hosts in the smog-hit series opener.
Chasing 149, Bangladesh overhauled the target with three balls to spare to record their first-ever win against India in nine meetings.
