{"id":9994,"date":"2025-12-17T18:42:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T13:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=672505"},"modified":"2025-12-17T18:42:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T13:12:53","slug":"ind-vs-sa-4th-t20i-why-is-the-toss-delayed-despite-no-rain-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/ind-vs-sa-4th-t20i-why-is-the-toss-delayed-despite-no-rain-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"IND vs SA 4th T20I: Why is the toss delayed despite no rain? Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

The toss for the India vs South Africa 4th T20I in Lucknow<\/strong> was delayed on Wednesday evening, even though there was no rain<\/strong> in the area. The reason, however, lies in thick fog and cold winter conditions<\/strong>, not precipitation.<\/p>\n

According to match officials, visibility around the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium dropped significantly<\/strong> as evening set in, prompting umpires to delay proceedings. An inspection was scheduled for 6:50 PM local time<\/strong> to reassess conditions before deciding on the toss.<\/p>\n

Fog, not rain, behind the delay<\/h3>\n

Lucknow has been experiencing dense winter fog<\/strong>, and on match day the haze became thick enough to affect player visibility, umpiring clarity, and broadcast conditions<\/strong>. While the outfield and pitch remained dry, international playing conditions require safe and clear visibility<\/strong> before the toss and start of play can take place.<\/p>\n

Broadcasters also rely on minimum visibility standards, especially for ball tracking and on-field cameras, which are critical for international matches.<\/p>\n

Pitch and weather conditions add complexity<\/h3>\n

Former cricketers Deep Dasgupta and Pommie Mbangwa<\/strong>, during the pitch report, highlighted how cold temperatures<\/strong> have impacted the surface.<\/p>\n

The pitch, a mix of red and black soil, was described as very cold to the touch<\/strong>, making it difficult to keep moisture out. Because of this, the surface is expected to be slower than usual<\/strong>, with scores in the 150\u2013160 range<\/strong> seen as competitive rather than the typical high-scoring T20 totals.<\/p>\n

They also noted that:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • There could be lateral movement early on<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Dew later in the evening<\/strong> may assist chasing teams<\/li>\n
  • Bounce is expected to remain good, but conditions will challenge batters<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Shubman Gill ruled out adds to pre-match developments<\/h3>\n

    Adding to the pre-match updates, Shubman Gill was ruled out of the game due to a foot injury<\/strong>, forcing India into a late team rethink even before the toss could take place.<\/p>\n

    Series context remains crucial<\/h3>\n

    South Africa entered the match in a must-win situation<\/strong>, trailing in the series after heavy defeats at Cuttack and Dharamsala. India, meanwhile, had a chance to seal the series<\/strong>, though concerns around batting form \u2014 especially with an injured Gill and inconsistent returns from key batters \u2014 remained.<\/p>\n

    Despite the toss delay, officials indicated that once visibility improves to acceptable levels, the match should proceed without a reduction in overs.<\/p>\n

    In short, fog and winter visibility issues \u2014 not rain \u2014 are the sole reason behind the delayed toss in Lucknow<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The toss for the India vs South Africa 4th T20I in Lucknow was delayed on Wednesday evening, even though there\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":32505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}