From the moment rain robbed 55 minutes of play on the opening day on Friday and lopped off more play on subsequent days, it was clear that the first India-Bangladesh Test would meet a soggy end. In all, more than 15 hours were lost because of elemental intervention, and that made any chance of a result a remote possibility.
Indian skipper Rahul Dravid had tried to enliven the proceedings with a sporting declaration on the final day on Tuesday, but his positive thinking had no effect on the final outcome. Apart from the first day's delay, 288 minutes were lost on the second, the whole third day was washed out and play started only at 2.00 pm local time on the final day. Only divine intervention could have fetched a result in the first Test.
"We can't control the rain. It has resulted in us losing too many overs and when you lose nearly two and half days of play, it is difficult to get any result. But we tried our best," Dravid said.

Timing questionable
True, the weather is beyond the control of human power, but the selection of venues and the timing of a tour are very much in the controllable category. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) fixed the Indian team's tour to Bangladesh at a time when the neighbouring country experiences high rain fall. Inclement weather had forced the abandonment of the third one-dayer in Chittagong a week ago, and that was only the first of the wet days.
Even Dravid, usually a passive observer of such administrative gaffe, came out in the open, pointing out anomalies in the schedule. He said ideally, the timing of the current tour could have been better. Moderate drainage facilities at the ground added to the woes, and Dravid was quick to note that point.

Poor drainage facilities
"Definitely, the Test matches have a lot of riding on drainage facilities. Especially the newer venues around the world where Test matches are being played should have that facility. Some of the grounds in the West Indies really surprised me a lot during the World Cup, from the last time I went there. If we are going to play in grounds where weather is going to play an important part, then the ground staff should ensure that we have good drainage facilities and then we can at least save some time, especially during the Test matches," Dravid said.
The ground staff at the Bir Shreshta stadium in Chittagong tried its best to get the field ready for play. Barring the odd success, their earnest efforts did not bear fruit due to the inadequate drainage system and the lack of modern equipment.
"It rains heavily in Bangladesh at this time of the year, and the ground staff has its limitations as it is tough to beat the rain when it pours with this intensity. Still, we tried our best and managed to stage some cricket," Moinul Alam, a member of the ground staff, said.
Dravid also termed the international schedule as over-cramped, and resulting in a lot of injuries to players. "Obviously, in a year like this, with the kind of workloads there are, the team management is forced to think. You will have to look at the schedules, you will have to look at your teams, and if you have a few key injuries, it's not easy to replace the players. Then you have to bring a lot of young guys in if some of the more experienced guys get injured. It's a tough situation for most teams, especially for us," he said.

Plethora of injuries
Pacemen S Sreesanth and Munaf Patel, and Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwari, have returned home with different injuries. With the England tour starting in less than a month's time, injuries to some of the promising youngsters do not augur well for the team. Perhaps, that might have prompted Dravid to voice his displeasure against the schedule.
However, his hopes of clear weather and a full game of cricket may not be answered as segments of dark clouds hovered over Dhaka, threatening a few more sodden days.