By IANS
Kochi : Heavy rains for the past few days have cast a doubt over the second one-day international (ODI) between India and Australia to be played here Tuesday.
The ground staff has been busy draining out the water from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium ground, actually a football stadium and erstwhile home of now defunct FC Kochi.
“If the match starts more than two hours late due to rain, then it would be difficult for us to go ahead with the game at all,” said one of the officials.
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Teams stay indoors
Kochi: Persistent rain forced the Australian and the Indian cricket teams to cancel their practice session and stay in the team hotel here Monday.
The Australians were supposed to practice at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from 7.30 a.m. but could not go out as the heavy showers continued.
Subsequently, India’s practice session met the same fate as the ground was water logged and light rain continued to fall.
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Brijesh Patel lashes out at umpires
Kochi: Former Test batsman Brijesh Patel, currently secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), lashed out at the umpires for the first ODI saying that they were responsible for robbing the Bangaloreans of a good game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium Saturday.
“The ground was fit even after two hours of rain. The Australians were ready to play and I can understand that the Indians had some problems after they had lost one wicket. But I don’t know what happened to the umpires,” said Patel.
“The umpires robbed Babgaloreans of a good match. The International Cricket Council (ICC) should take action against them. I will also take up this matter with the Indian cricket board,” he said.
The first ODI between India and Australia was called off due to a wet out field. India made a poor start as Sachin Tenulkar departed without opening his account as India chased an imposing target of 308 set by the Australians.