After rain-hit week, India finally get serious as Sri Lanka await in Asian Games semifinal | Cricket News

Indian cricket team captain Shreyas Iyer with Axar Patel

NAGOYA: Sunshine finally returned on Wednesday after days of persistent rain across parts of Japan, delighting a sizeable number of cricket fans here. Six matches, including the quarterfinals in the men’s cricket competition, have either been rain-affected or abandoned without a ball being bowled.On Thursday, rain is expected to stay away when India square off against Sri Lanka and Pakistan take on Bangladesh.India, favourites to retain gold, have been tourists in Japan for over a week and will finally get into the thick of the action in the semifinal against Sri Lanka. India at least played a truncated T20 match that turned into a five-a-side tie against Japan; Lanka have not taken the field yet.Both teams may be rusty, but India have pedigree, with the cream of their T20 talent set to line up. In sharp contrast, the Lankans have fielded a second-string team.“We have been spending time together and talking a lot about cricket and combinations,” Sanju Samson said.