India-Sri Lanka 1st Test delayed due to rain

Kolkata, Nov 16 (IANS) The first Test between India and Sri Lanka was delayed due to rain here at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.

Staying true to the weather forecast, the skies remained overcast since morning with light drizzle starting little over an hour before the scheduled start of the game and half an hour ahead of toss.

Both teams did not have practice on the eve of the match due to rain as the covers were on throughout the day.

It was the same picture on the day of the tie as well with pitch cover removed for a short while when rain was away, only to be put back minutes later after the skies refused to relent keeping both captains confined to their dressing rooms during toss time.

A depression over the Bay of Bengal triggered almost incessant downpour since early on Wednesday throwing traffic out of gear in the city also.

India captain Virat Kohli spoke to reporters at the team hotel. While Sri Lanka's captain Dinesh Chandimal and team manager and national selector Asanka Gurusinha came to the Eden for their team's press conference.

Chances of a washout of Day 1 could not be ruled out as more rain was predicted for the day by the weatherman.

On Friday also, there is forecast of showers while according to local MeT office, Saturday could also see scattered thunderstorms.

The eastern metropolis did not receive a drop of rain since October 30.

India are playing Sri Lanka for the second time in three months after the hosts battered the tourists in their own den in July-August 9-0 across all formats.

Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (Captain), K.L. Rahul, M. Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma.

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella (wicketkeeper), Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Gamage, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Dasun Shanaka and Roshen Silva.