M Chinnaswamy stadium covered amid rain in Bengaluru© X (Twitter)
The start of the Test series between India and New Zealand in Bengaluru is all but set to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of both teams and their fans. Bengaluru has been hit with incessant rains over the past few days, resulting in water-logging across the city, hurting the day-to-day activities. India and New Zealand's practice sessions over the last couple of days have also been impacted severely. As the two teams prepare for the opening day of the series opener on Wednesday, rain threat looms large on the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru.
The start of the day is expected to be fine, with the chances of rain ranging between 7% and 8% from 8 AM in the morning to 12 pm in the noon. However, the possibility of precipitation increases significantly from there on.
Bengaluru Hourly Weather Update Today (October 16):
10:00 AM (7:30 PM IST) - 5 % chance of rain
11:00 AM (8:30 PM IST) - 5 % chance of rain
12:00 PM (9:30 PM IST) - 8 % chance of rain
1:00 PM (10:30 PM IST) - 51 % chance of rain
2:00 PM (11:30 PM IST) - 51 % chance of rain
3:00 PM (7:30 PM IST) - 47 % chance of rain
4:00 PM (7:30 PM IST) - 14 % chance of rain
5:00 PM (7:30 PM IST) - 14 % chance of rain
The New Zealand team, which has often troubled India under overcast conditions with the ball, is hopeful of making the most of the weather situation in the city. Kiwi skipper Tom Latham feels the weather would bring fast bowlers into play a lot.
"We did not expect this kind of weather; it's not as hot as we anticipated, which could potentially bring the fast bowlers into play. We'll review the previous game played here, but it's hard to say for sure at the moment," Latham said in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
The Indian team might also ponder on the bowling combination, considering how the weather conditions in Bengaluru have evolved.