India v Australia: Rain likely to play spoilsport in Kolkata ODI

Team India registered a clinical win in the first ODI of the 5-match ODI series against Australia recently. The win in the rain-curtailed affair at Chennai must have surely bolstered the hosts. Action now moves to the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, for the second ODI of the series. Both teams will head to the eastern part of the country but the threat to the game remains same.

In all likelihood, rain could potentially play spoilsport during the second ODI. As per the recent reports in Hindustan Times, the venue of Eden Gardens was under covers for the entire day today. There have been frequent showers in the city of Kolkata in the last few days. Met director of Kolkata, Mr. Ganesh Das, noted that the rains are due to the circulations over South Bengal.

He, however, hopes that the circulation will be gone by the match day when India takes on Australia. However, there is no certainty over this fact. “By September 21, the circulation will be gone but in this month rain is a possibility especially in the evening. It may not however continue for too long,” remarked Das.

Ground well-equipped to handle rain

Meanwhile, the pitch curator of the venue, Sujan Mukherjee, mentioned that the pitch and the ground conditions are ideal for the international fixture. He, however, kept mum when asked to comment on the rain forecasts. “The pitch and ground conditions is just perfect. It is an ideal condition what is required for an ODI contest but I cannnot say whether it will rain or not,” said Mukherjee.

Adding further to his point, he mentioned that the ground is well quipped to handle the rains if there is a downpour. The only thing that can affect the game is high intensity and frequent downpour. “We are equipped to over the entire ground and there is enough machinery to clear up even if it rains but it depends on the intensity and duration,” conceded the pitch curator.