Persistent and occasionally heavy rain in Bengaluru has forced the cancellation of India's training session the day before the first Test against New Zealand at the city's M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The session, originally slotted for 9.30am, was first postponed by an hour and then cancelled altogether with the rain showing no signs of relenting.
New Zealand's training session is scheduled for 1.30pm, but there's a good chance that will be affected too. In fact, the Indian Meteorological Department has forecast rains for the rest of the week, which could seriously affect the Test match. There is a 70% to 90% chance of rain on the first and second days of the Test, and a yellow alert has also been issued for many places in the state of Karnataka (of which Bengaluru is a part).
Bengaluru has experienced a lot of rainfall for the past week. It rained on Monday as well, two days before the game, but both teams managed to finish their respective training sessions. India's head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma also had time to get a good look at the surface, which was followed by a long discussion with the pitch curator.
There was rain in Bengaluru all through Monday night and Tuesday morning. And the covers at the Chinnaswamy haven't been moved.
Absolutely pelting down in Bengaluru a day before the first #INDvNZ Test. India team practice delayed, and this doesn't look like stopping anytime soon @ESPNcricinfo pic.twitter.com/pJQEHwun52
— Ashish Pant (@ashishpant43) October 15, 2024
The weather had taken away roughly half the playing time of India's last home Test, in Kanpur against Bangladesh just over two weeks ago, but India still managed to win the game with some quick run-scoring and fantastic bowling. New Zealand's tour of the subcontinent has also had its share of weather woes - their first Test of the tour, a non-World Test Championship (WTC) game against Afghanistan in Greater Noida, couldn't be played at all, though the lack of proper drainage facilities at the venue played as big a role as the weather for that eventuality.
The Chinnaswamy stadium, however, boasts of a world-class drainage facility. The venue has a subsurface aeration system installed, which allows play to begin within minutes of the rain ceasing. Which means that there could well be spells of play around the rain, if it relents for long enough.
India are coming into this Test on the back of a 2-0 win against Bangladesh while New Zealand suffered a 2-0 loss in Sri Lanka. India are perched at the top of the WTC rankings and a 3-0 series win here will go a long way towards helping them seal a third straight WTC final berth, while New Zealand, currently placed sixth, are also not out of the race yet.