Weather a concern ahead of Ind-Aus T20 at Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram: Weather will be the crucial factor when Thiruvananthapuram hosts the second T20 international between India and Australia to be held played at the Greenfield Stadium on Sunday.

However, Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) Secretary Vinod Kumar sounded confident of hosting a full match, saying that even if it rains one hour before the match, things will go on in a smooth manner as the ground has an excellent drainage system.

On the pitch, Kumar said like in most T20 matches, the 22-yard strip will favour the batsmen.

“However, we are having rains frequently and if the conditions remain overcast, it might help the bowlers as well," said Kumar.

On sale of tickets, Kumar said it was initially affected due to the heavy rains lashing the city, but after two days of sunshine, ticket sales have picked up pace.

"We are expecting it to get even better, especially with India winning the first match,” Kumar said.

In the first game of the five-match series played in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, India beat the visitors by two wickets in a thrilling last-ball finish.

Now all eyes are on how the crowd would react to the absence of local hero Sanju Samson, who was till recently part of the Indian team. While the local cricket fans didn't take Samson's omission from the squad too well, chief selector Ajith Agarkar has said that the keeper-batsman is 200 per cent in their scheme of things.

Australia will be playing in the state capital after a gap of 39 years. The last time they played here in an ODI in 1984, the match was abandoned midway due to rain. Chasing 146 in 32 overs the visitors led by by Kim Hughes were 29/1 in 7.4 overs when rain stopped play. India were led by Sunil Gavaskar.