Persistent rain in Chennai washed out the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final between Central Zone and East Zone without a ball bowled. The umpires C Shamsuddin and Vineet Kulkarni had an inspection at 11.15am, but the conditions were so bad that the toss was a non-starter. The city had been experiencing wet weather in the lead-up to the final, denying the teams the chance to practice outdoors.

Central were without their strike seamer Praveen Kumar, who suffered a chest injury while taking a catch during the semi-final against North Zone.