16 October,2024 06:47 AM IST | Bangalore | R Kaushik
India head coach Gautam Gambhir (third from left), captain Rohit Sharma and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant (left) inspect the pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Monday. Pic/AFP
Tuesday ought to have been about final top-ups, about last-minute fine-tuning, about dusting off any remaining cobwebs. Instead, it devolved into a frustrating day, bleak and gloomy, with the rain coming down with varying degrees of intensity.
It's possible that this scene will be reprised for most parts of the first two days, at least, of India's first Test against New Zealand, starting on Wednesday. The M Chinnaswamy Stadium boasts of inarguably the best drainage facilities at a cricket ground in the world, courtesy the revolutionary Sub-air system, but even that might not suffice unless it stops raining.
India cancelled their scheduled practice session on Tuesday morning. New Zealand made the obligatory visit to the venue and went through their paces at the indoor facility at the National Cricket Academy, though they too must have wondered if that was an exercise in futility, given what the forecast holds as a consequence of monsoon rains and major weather systems in both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
There is nothing more frustrating ahead of the start of a Test series than watching the rain beat a steady pitter-patter. Rival teams approach the lead-up to such showdowns with different objectives. For India, in this instance, that would have revolved around building on their position of pre-eminence in the World Test Championship points table.
New Zealand's designs, more basic, would have centred around getting out of a recent rut that saw them lose both Tests in Sri Lanka last month when they were found out by the assortment of spinners and new batting sensation, Kamindu Mendis.
Also Read: 2 wins, 17 defeats: An overview of New Zealand's Test record in India since 1988
New Zealand last played a Test at the Garden City here 12 years ago, when a young Tim Southee picked up a seven-wicket haul against India which the hosts won handsomely in their first series in the post-Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman era. Southee is now a veteran of 102 Tests, has picked up a commendable 382 wickets and is almost a sure shot to spearhead the pace attack despite only taking two wickets in 294 deliveries during the Sri Lankan meltdown especially given that the conditions here are expected to be more Birmingham than Bangalore.
The precipitation of the last few days means the teams haven't had a close look at the surface.
India played three seamers in a home Test for the first time since 2019 in their recent 2-0 hammering of Bangladesh, and if the forecast holds true, Kuldeep Yadav's wait for a 13th Test appearance will continue. The left-arm wrist spinner played the last four Tests against England at the start of the year and would have fancied a full bouquet of five winter home Tests, but conditions have dictated otherwise, the beneficiary being the impressive fast bowler, Akash Deep. Deep's role is expected to be more pronounced in Australia, now that it's clear that Mohammed Shami will miss at least the early stages of that five-Test series. He, more than anyone else, will hope the elements relent and there is play, some play here on Wednesday.
