There was something of the ridiculous about the actions of the Pakistan cricket team and its supporters at Edgbaston this morning, when, before a ball had been bowled on the second day of the Second Test, prayers were held to try and summon rain.
Pakistan, teetering precariously on 19 for 1, 160 runs behind England's first-innings total of 251, can realistically only come out of the match with a draw, but, with events back home verging on the catastrophic due to monumental flooding throughout Pakistan, it seemed rather ironic that rain should now be their saviour.
More than 5000 Pakistani fans sat in the outfield, connected their index fingers and thumbs together, and chanted a mantra that, they believed, would summon divine intervention and result in a nasty summer shower that would wash-out the day's play, and hopefully, the rest of the Second Test.
How they must have wished the game was being staged at Old Trafford, where it rarely ceases raining!
Pakistani captain Salman Butt, no relation to Nicky, told me:
"Ommm...Ommm...Ommm...Ommm...Ommm..."
