The first Test between India and Sri Lanka failed totake off on the second day as well with overnight rains rendering the outfieldwet and unfit to play.
No rains since morning -- barring a drizzle that lastedfor barely a couple of minutes in the afternoon -- and a mild sunshine did notprove enough for play to begin.
The two umpires Daryl Harper of Australia and MarkBenson of England inspected the Chidambaram Stadium ground at 1 pm beforedeciding to abandon the second day's play.
Indian skipper Rahul Dravid, accompanied by coach GregChappell, also did a round of the stadium but only to return disappointed.
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The rains, being caused by Cyclone 'Baaz' in the Bay ofBengal, have effectively ruined chances of the game going full throttle with nolet-up in wet weather conditions predicted for the next couple of days as well.
However, if the rain Gods do relent, play in the nextthree days would begin at 9 am with a minimum of 97 overs to be bowled each dayto make up for the lost time.
No play was possible on the first day as well due toheavy downpour.
This is the second time in two weeks that rains havedisrupted an international fixture following the November 22 washout of the one-dayerbetween India and South Africa.
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The current Test match is the fourth successive international contest here to beaffected by rains since 2003, when the India-New Zealand one-dayer failed toproduce a result. Last year, the final day of a Test match featuring India andAustralia was rained off with India neatly poised for victory.
For the cricket-crazy Chennai crowd, it has been a verydisappointing few days. With their claims of ticket refund for the India-SouthAfrica one-dayer still entangled in legalities, they are now faced with asimilar fate this time around as well.
That apart, their wait to see their star reach ahistoric milestone, is also getting prolonged as Sachin Tendulkar is just oneton short of a world record 35th Test century.
The match has also assumed added importance in the wakeof a possible return to the field by dethroned captain Saurav Ganguly who wasignored for the one-day series against Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Both the teams have not announced their playing elevensas yet.
PTI
