Sun finally shines as Tigers brace for Pakistan

After four straight quarterfinal washouts, the sun finally broke through over Nisshin on Wednesday, giving Bangladesh their first proper outdoor training session since arriving in Japan ahead of their Asian Games semi-final against Pakistan tomorrow.

The weather could prove just as important as the cricket. The forecast points to plenty of sunshine again, offering hope that Bangladesh and Pakistan can finally get their campaign under way after the entire quarterfinal round was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

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For Yasir Ali, simply getting back on a cricket field was a welcome change.

“Alhamdulillah, I think this is the first time we've seen the sun since coming to Japan. It feels good that we were able to properly get out on the field today,” Yasir told reporters on Wednesday.

I think this is the first time we've seen the sun since coming to Japan. It feels good that we were able to properly get out on the field today.

Yasir Ali

“Inshallah, there is sun on the field tomorrow as well, so hopefully, we will get good weather for the game.”

The lack of cricket has forced Bangladesh to improvise, but Yasir believes the team have remained prepared.

“We didn't have practice, but we always keep ourselves mentally prepared, keeping our minds in the game as much as possible,” he said. “We came to the football field, practised and played football. So I think we tried to keep ourselves mentally prepared as much as we could.”

Bangladesh advanced directly to the semi-finals as the higher-seeded side, but Pakistan have historically held the upper hand in this format, winning 11 of their last 14 T20Is against the Tigers since 2021

The match begins at 6 am BST.

In the other semi-final, India face Sri Lanka at 11 am, with both teams also hoping the sunshine finally allows the tournament to move beyond its rain-soaked start.