Leeds was soaked for much of the day by heavy, persistent rain, so much so that the ENG vs PAK 1st T20I was canceled even before it was due to begin. Long before the umpires arrived to assess the situation, puddles had started to form on the ground, and it didn’t take them long to conclude that there was no point in postponing the inevitable.
This was practically both teams’ last opportunity to give their players a run-in before finalizing their squads, with the T20 World Cup squad announcement deadline being on Saturday, the day of the second T20I of the series in Birmingham.
Rain denies Pakistan final opportunity
Of the 20 teams competing in the World Cup, Pakistan are still the only team whose preliminary team has not been disclosed to the public. Despite Hasan Ali being released from the squad earlier to fulfill his county deal with Warwickshire, the PCB had specifically mentioned this game when announcing their intention to hold off on the squad announcement, saying they would announce it after the ENG vs PAK 1st T20I.
The weather in Yorkshire extinguished Pakistan’s hopes of having a final look at the players before finalizing the travel plans to North America.
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England left ‘frustrated’
For England, the abandonment meant they could not see Jofra Archer in action. The captain of England, Jos Buttler, admitted to Sky Sports that the players had had a “frustrating” day.
“We’ve had a really good couple of days’ prep and everyone was really excited for the series. I think just putting the England kit back on and playing cricket in England is amazing. So it’s really disappointing today, not to be playing, but three matches still to look forward to,” he said.
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