India and New Zealand teams continued to wait for the rain in Bengaluru to relent on Wednesday, but it eventually washed out the entire first session of play at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, not allowing even the toss to happen.
The players were, thus, forced to reportedly train at the stadium’s indoor facility.
Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal were seen being escorted by the officials, but more than anything else on a wet morning, it was Kohli’s look in a hoodie that stole the thunder from rain in the Karnataka capital, which is also Kohli’s Indian Premier League (IPL) home with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
It’s the first Test of the three-match series against New Zealand, coming after India’s 2-0 whitewash of Bangladesh.
The weather forecast in Bengaluru for the next two days is also pretty grim, which leaves the rain gods to have a final say in the outcome of the match despite the ground having a state-of-the-art drainage system.
The second Test will be played in Pune from October 24 and the third in Mumbai from November 1.
After that India will travel to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that will be contested over a five-Test series for the first time.
India are currently on top of the World Test Championship standings, followed by Australia at No. 2. Winner of the inaugural WTC, New Zealand, are currently languishing at the sixth spot.
Mohammed Shami situation: Who exactly is not telling the truth? | Beyond The Boundary