A day ago cricket emerged the eventual winner against the elements, but on Sunday the weather came back with a vengeance and ensured that not a single ball would be delivered.
The overnight rains continued to drench the Bir Shreshta stadium in the morning with sustained hostility and as a result little puddles of water were formed all over outfield. The first signs of a non-match third day of the first Test appeared when India’s bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad along with media manager Surendra Bhave came for inspection around 10.00 am local time and returned with grim faces.

Lack of sunshine
“No, it is a very tough today. Unlike yesterday, when we had received sunshine after 11 a.m, today there is no sufficient light that will help the ground to get dry. See, the groundsmen are not even able to take off the covers even,” Bhave said while coming out of the ground.
Nearly an hour and half later – though the intensity of the rain came down considerably – umpires Billy Doctrove and Daryl Harper came out and they did not took long to confirm the worst fears of the sparse crowd and scribes. The two gentlemen in whites ruled out any action on the day due to wet ground conditions as they deemed it to be dangerous for the players.

Truncated Test
India were 384 for six in 97 overs after nearly five hours of play was robbed by a sodden outfield caused by heavy rains on Saturday. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was batting on 36, while Anil Kumble was giving him company on one. Even the first day – only 77 overs were possible then – of this Test had truncated as 55 minutes were lost to the elemental fury when the skies opened up after the lunch.
Earlier, the third match of the one-day series was also abandoned without a ball being bowled due to bad weather here.
Constant drizzle and dark clouds threaten further showers in the night and the word from met office at 4.30 pm local time – though they seldom come true – gives strength to the worst fears.

Result unlikely
With the possibility of a result looks ever so distant – unless some extraordinary performance by the Indians or an equally insipid show by the home side – both the teams can look forward to the second and final Test in Dhaka, beginning on May 25 at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
However, one point is hard to miss; the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s propensity to select wrong venues at wrong time. It may not be too long to forget the fate of the tri-series held in Sri Lanka in the beginning of the last season, where they could hardly play any cricket due to inclement weather. The tri-series in Kuala Lumpur too had witnessed some elemental interruptions.

Foresight needed
The frequency with which the weather has thrown a spanner in the works in the on-going series against Bangladesh should make the mandarins aware of a little more forethought before selecting venues in the future.
The players, though, were not complaining. Many of them ventured out in search of music and movie discs and other stuffs in the nearby Ocean Sanmar, one of the biggest commercial centers in Chittagong. With a packed schedule ahead of them, it may be of little surprise that they exploit these unexpected breaks to the hilt.