It has gone very dark very quickly after the toss.
STAT: New Zealand have not won a Test series in India in their 12 attempts. The last time they won a Test match in India was back in 1988 at Wankhede.
Latham: Wicket has been under covers so hopefully we can make good use of it early with the ball. Bit of weather around, so we have't had a great prep here. Three seamers with Ajaz Patel and we have two all-rounders who bowl spin too
Rohit: We are going to have a bat first
India have won the toss and have opted to bat
Both captains ready for toss!
Pitch report: No reminiscence at all that it rained
Gambhir, Bumrah and Rohit are having a chat beside the pitch
So conditions have improved and we are cricket-ready in Bengaluru. Toss at 8.45, start at 9.15. The forecast looks decent till afternoon.
"For India, Bumrah has marked his run up. Sarfaraz has had a lot of throw downs but Gill has come out as well and having a long chat with Nayar."
Day 2: Good morning folks. Ganesh welcomes us with this great news from the ground - Good morning. Better news today, covers are off and players trickling to practice on the ground.
All we can do now is hope that things clear up by tomorrow although the forecasts do not look promising. To make up for all the time lost, we're scheduled to have an early start tomorrow. On that note, it's time for us to bid you goodbye for now. We'll see you back here bright and early tomorrow and hopefully have much cheerier news.
Meanwhile, here's an interesting update from Ganesh who says "after stumps, they actually had time to remove the pitch covers for the first time in the day. Some of the technical work that could have taken time for start tomorrow was being done. And some grass sprinkled on the damp patches on the square. All after stumps was called and it stopped raining for a while." He also adds that Indian skipper Rohit Sharma came out and had a look at the surface.
14:30 Local Time, 09:00 GMT: The inevitable has happened, Play has been called off for the day.
All we can do now is hope that things clear up by tomorrow although the forecasts do not look promising. To make up for all the time lost, we're scheduled to have an early start tomorrow. On that note, it's time for us to bid you goodbye for now. We'll see you back here bright and early tomorrow and hopefully have much cheerier news.
14:10 Local Time, 08:40 GMT, 14:10 IST: The umpires continue their inspection of the square. Looks patchy and damp around the pitch while the pitch itself remains under covers.
13:56 Local Time, 08:26 GMT, 13:56 IST: Oh well, that moment of optimism was short lived.
"Covers are starting to be peeled off" adds Ganesh. Finally some positive news after a long wait.
13:40 Local Time, 08:10 GMT:"Umpires are ambling out to have a chat with a couple of ground staff in the middle. Still spitting lightly so we’ll have to wait and see what they make of it" pings Ganesh.
India
New Zealand
