Kolkata
The second ODI between India and Australia has come under a dark cloud of uncertainty. It’s been raining continually here since last night and, more worryingly, there’s a forecast of more rain in the coming days, and Thursday’s match is in the real danger of getting truncated game or even washed out. Even if it doesn’t rain on match day, Kolkata’s past record in getting the ground ready for the game after rain, to put it mildly, isn’t encouraging.

In 2015, a T20 match between India and South Africa had to be called off without a ball being bowled because the ground staff couldn’t dry up the outfield despite rain having stopped about four hours back. Following that major embarrassment, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) bought covers for the entire ground and the drainage system, too, was spruced up. Before last year’s T20 World Cup game between India and Pakistan, Kolkata was hit by rain. The whole ground under covers, and groundstaff squatted on the covers in the rain and later so that wind wouldn’t blow them off. The match was reduced to 18-overs a side, and produced a thrilling end.

One would hope CAB’s ability and preparedness isn’t put to test on Thursday. In case it is, the Sourav Ganguly-led CAB would, hopefully, not use staff as weight to keep the covers on.