With rain playing spoilsport in three of the World Cup 2019 games already, fans have started taking potshots at the tournament with one topping it all by putting rain in pole position on the points table.
In a Twitter message, the points table says rain has won all four matches it has played and has eight points in its kitty.
Finally it's rain which has made it to top of the table. @ICC @cricketworldcup #INDvsNZ #Nottingham pic.twitter.com/3F198PmYJl
— Shrinidhi Nayak (@imShriNayak) June 13, 2019
So far, South Africa-West Indies, Sri Lanka-Pakistan and Sri Lanka-Bangladesh have all been washouts.
On Thursday, the India-New Zealand game joined the list as it was declared abandoned without a ball being bowled.
This World Cup has already turned into a damp squib with the most washouts ever in a single edition of the quadrennial event. And with the weather playing truant, the possibility of more matches getting affected by rain cannot be ruled out.
Prior to this year’s event, there have only been two washouts in all World Cups from 1975-2015.
The ICC has said in a statement that it will be a logistical nightmare to keep reserve days for games in the group stage.
"Factoring in a reserve day for every match at the World Cup would significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically would be extremely complex to deliver," ICC Chief Executive David Richardson had said in a statement a few days back.
"It would impact pitch preparation, team recovery and travel days, accommodation and venue availability, tournament staffing, volunteer and match officials' availability, broadcast logistics and very importantly, the spectators who in some instances travel hours to be at the game. There is also no guarantee that the reserve day would be free from rain either.”
"Up to 1,200 people are on site to deliver a match and everything associated with it, including getting it broadcast, and a proportion of them are moving around the country. So reserve days in the group stages would require a significant uplift in the number of staff.”
Several memes appeared on Twitter mocking the rain-marred tournament.
The worst Cricket World Cup in history -
— Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) June 13, 2019
1. #CWC19
2. #CWC19
3. #CWC19
4. All of the above.
Well played #ICC!
ICC WORLD CUP 2019.#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/1L3pP54eO0
— Krishna (@Atheist_Krishna) June 13, 2019
Rains at the World Cup! @sifydotcom cartoon #WorldCup2019 pic.twitter.com/svMvnRNqVp
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) June 13, 2019
#ICCCricketWorldCup2019
— Suman (@Suman62585723) June 11, 2019
What a world cup 2019#icc pic.twitter.com/tXHf5xrdat
#INDvNZ
— ठगा गया मोदी भक्त (@DehatiChhora) June 13, 2019
Hey @ICC and @ECB_cricket,
Q. Which one of the below is a better way to protect the outfield during rain? 5 marks
Nottingham Eden Garden pic.twitter.com/FdPfiYbSoX
#ICC pls change the name world cup to rain cup #INDvNZ
— Praveen Kp (@Praveen28864445) June 13, 2019
#ICC What bullshit u guys are conducting world cup in this rainy season... U should conduct these type of tournaments in india..we are purchasing tickets and u r giving 1 point each to teams..this is not a spirit if this game...#BCCI
— SUKHJIT SINGH DIMPY (@SUKHJIT75435065) June 11, 2019
Hahaha... #ICC take care of world Cup. It might get drowned in water. We are waiting to see a match without interruption, not even bothered of result.
— suMAkanth... (@sumakanthsmail1) June 13, 2019
@ICCWCup2019 how can we call it as a cricket World Cup? So many matches are washed out, not even toss happened. Where is cricket in it?#cricbuzz #ICC
— Sachin Bhoir (@SachinB2882) June 13, 2019
New logo of the world cup #ICC #CricketWorldCup pic.twitter.com/Gk7wqiKoVu
— unmesh kulkarni (@unmeshk31) June 12, 2019
#ICC Thank you for selecting wonderful venue for #world_cup..What a tournament it is@ICC @CWC2O19 @BCCI pic.twitter.com/72hZMg663M
— DebiPrasad (@memer_hun) June 12, 2019
It's really disgusting that world cup which comes once in 4 years getting its matches washed off.The fact is that from past few years, there's been annual rainfall for 200 days in a year.aren't they aware
— Faiz Abdul (@FaizAbdul16) June 13, 2019
It sucks#CWC19 #ICC
With IANS inputs