'Wickets installed three weeks ago': Ahead of India vs Pakistan clash, MCG pitch curator explains conditions

India and Pakistan face each other in the T20 World Cup at the colossal Melbourne Cricket Ground which has been sold out for the marquee clash.

The colossal Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will be packed to the rafters when India take on Pakistan in the two teams' blockbuster opening match of the 2022 T20 World Cup. While there were fears of rains possibly not allowing a full match to happen, that seems to have assuaged with more favourable forecasts coming in today.

Pakistan's players practice during their training session ahead of their T20 World Cup 2022 match against India(Getty Images)

All eyes now turn to the pitch and how it will play out over the course of the match. While he did not reveal how the pitch will play out, the MCG's pitch curator Michael Salvatore has said that the wicket will remain consistent throughout the match, which starts at 7pm local time (1.30pm IST).

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"T20 wickets are usually really consistent for the whole match. So it should make for a really good game. We have brought it from our wicket nursery which is just outside the ground. It's literally 200 meters outside the ground so we can move and monitor and maintain the wickets all year around. And the wickets were installed three weeks ago," said Salvatore on A Sports.

"So we have drop-in wickets here at the MCG. So for the cricket season we bring the wickets in and I sit on some sand and bed in nicely. And then once cricket finishes, we have got the football stadium. We have the ability to take them out and put them up in our special week anniversary where we can look after and maintain them," he said.

While the chances of rain was over 90 per cent on Thursday, it has now reduced to 70 per cent. “Cloudy. High (70%) chance of showers, most likely in the late afternoon and evening. The chance of a thunderstorm in the northeast suburbs in the late afternoon and evening. Winds southerly 15 to 25 km/h tending southeasterly 20 to 30 km/h in the evening," said Australia's Bureau of Meteorology.