Chennai: The first cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka failed to take off on the second day as well with overnight rains rendering the outfield wet and unfit to play.
No rains since morning -- barring a drizzle that lasted for barely a couple of minutes in the afternoon -- and a mild sunshine did not prove for play to begin.
The two umpires Daryl Harper of Australia and Mark Benson from England inspected the M A Chidambaram ground at 1 pm before deciding to abandon the second day's play.
Indian skipper Rahul Dravid, accompanied by coach Greg Chappell, also did a round of the stadium but only to return disappointed.
The rains, caused by Cyclone Baaz in the Bay of Bengal, have effectively ruined chances of the game going full throttle with no let-up in wet weather conditions predicted for the next couple of days as well.
However, if the rain gods do relent, play in the next three days would begin at 9.00 am with a minimum of 97 overs to be bowled each day to make up for the lost time.
No play was possible on the first day as well due to heavy downpour.
This is the second time in two weeks that rains have disrupted an international fixture following the November 22 washout of the one-dayer between India and South Africa.
Cyclone Bazz may have weakened into a depression but that has not meant any relief for North Tamil Nadu and Chennai. The state, which has received it's highest rainfall in the last 50 years, is now getting much more than its fair share because of the cyclone depression and Chennai, a city which recovered from one round of inundation almost three weeks ago, is now preparing for another spell in hell.
Elsewhere, continued heavy rains in northern parts of Tamil Nadu have begun to be a cause of worry. Many parts of the state are flooded and it is unlikely that there will any respite. The Met department has predicted more rains in the next 24 hours.
Said a Chennai citizen: ?Since they are pumping out water from lakes there are floods everywhere. We are scared to even leave our children on their own as schools and roads are filled with water.?
And the weather forecast for the days ahead don?t sound too good either. More rains are expected in the next forty eight hours as the depression over the Bay of Bengal is expected to cross the coast between Chennai and Ongole on Saturday Morning.
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