Asia Cup 2023: Sri Lanka Cricket hope to keep Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium ready despite rain concerns

Colombo: Despite rain prediction of varying intensity over the next fortnight here, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials on Wednesday remained optimistic about keeping the R Premadasa Stadium ready for the Asia Cup Super 4 matches and the title clash. The Sri Lanka leg of Super Four stage will start with a match between the hosts and Bangladesh on 9 September, followed by the much-awaited game between India and Pakistan on 10 September. The final will be played on 17 September here. “Yes, the predictions are for the rain. We had rains here this morning too, and it has made the wicket and areas near it a bit wet. “The outfield too has soaked in a good amount of water. But we are working hard, and we are confident of preparing the ground in time for the matches,” said Godfrey Dabrera, the national curator of SLC. There were speculations of Super 4 matches and final getting moved out of Colombo because of the inclement weather, before the Asian Cricket Council decided to stick with the original choice of venue. Dabrera was confident that his team could handle the situations at any ground. “All the three cities (Colombo, Pallekele and Hambantota) are experiencing rainfall. But we have assembled around 100 members, and we are readying pitches in all three venues,” Dabrera said. “We have been told that the matches are here, so we are preparing accordingly. But I can say that all three venues can host matches, if a need arises,” he added. Dabrera said he has visited all the three venues personally to oversee the preparations. He said rain ahead of matches does not give them as much headache as showers during a match. However, Dabrera said it would have helped him had the Met department given the forecast well in advance. “Rain during the match is tough to manage as we have to wait till it subsides. But we can only do this much when the Met department provides only 12 days of forecast in advance. “We have received the next 12 days of weather updates only today from them. Hope, we had that a few days ago,” he said.