Weather likely to make it to the semis

Ground staff clear water from the pitch at the County Ground in Bristol. The match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was later abandoned without a ball being bowled on Tuesday. - AFP

Favourites England on home ground. The Indians formidable. The Windies, Kiwis, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis vying for the last four places. Never discount four time winners Australia.
But wait a minute, what's going on here? There is another contender and that's the 11th team in the fray. The weather. All bristling howling wind and venom, hail and storm, ready to floor more teams. Six teams have already been affected and the World Cup is on the verge of becoming farcical.
Another couple of washed out matches and they might as well move the tourney indoors.
The mild sarcasm aside seeing as how fans are being robbed of their fun and advertisers are wringing their hands like Lady Macbeth and saying woe is me there are no eyeballs for our stuff to see.
But funny ha ha aside this inclement weather is a bit more than just a bother. Perhaps the ICC should have ducked the Duckworth Lewis nonsense and gone in for a truncated 20/20 game on the morning of the next day.
Perhaps the logistics do not now allow for it but the rained off games wreck the standings entirely.Teams that are enjoying a blue patch suddenly watch themselves being downed while others who are suffering lean patches watch their score and standing mounting for not playing.
I am reading the weather report and London will be soggy and wet and cold Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. So good, no matches at Lords or the Oval on these days. Taunton for Pakistan versus Australia on Wednesday is 90 per cent rain. Nottingham for India versus the Kiwis on Thursday is supposedly going to be rain-soaked.
Even the great 'war' game on Sunday between the over touted ho hum sub continental rivals at Manchester indicates rain all day. If the rain does stay honest to its forecast that is six games killed half way through the tournament.
Now you might say that the fans get their money back if a match is washed out but that is cold comfort. The cost of travel, visas, accommodation and the excitement of being there are lost irrevocably.
There has to be some way out of this that either calls for a spot change of venue where the weather is better in the shorter game because the result of the four semifinalists is now up for grabs and will become even more tenuous with every rained out game. Cloud nine it isn't.
bikram@khaleejtimes.com

• ICC World Cup 2020