Anticipated Storms and Hail Raise Concerns for India vs Afghanistan ODI in Dharamsala

NEW DELHI: As India prepares to face Afghanistan in the first ODI of their three-match series at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday, weather conditions may take center stage. Shubman Gill's team is gearing up for the 2027 ODI World Cup following a dominant innings-and-300-run victory over Afghanistan in their recent Test outing in Mullanpur, but the forecast for rain is creating anxiety among fans.

The Indian squad will be missing two prominent players for this match. Virat Kohli has been sidelined due to a hamstring injury, while Hardik Pandya will sit out the entire series with a leg sprain.

However, the most pressing issue remains the weather forecast. An orange alert has been issued by the India Meteorological Department for June 12, indicating potential thunderstorms, hail, and strong winds across Himachal Pradesh. Following this, a yellow alert will be in effect from June 13 to June 16, suggesting isolated rain and thunderstorm activity.

On match day, Dharamsala is expected to experience light rain, with a 55 percent chance of precipitation. Temperatures are forecasted to range between 12°C and 18°C. Fans hoping to witness India’s ODI debut under Gill's captaincy are worried that significant rainfall could disrupt the match and lead to the application of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.

After the opening ODI in Dharamsala, the series will shift to Lucknow for the second match on June 17, before concluding in Chennai on June 20.

Here are the squads for the ODI series: India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav. Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Nangeyalia Kharoti, AM Ghazanfar, Bilal Sami, Darwish Rasooli, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi.