Rain, rain go away India wants to play
CHANDIGARH: It poured in Chandigarh all Wednesday evening. At times the skies chucked buckets, at others they offered just a drizzle. India plan to take on South Korea on grass beginning Friday but for that to happen, the skies will have to cooperate. As of now, Indra (Vedic rain God) doesn’t seem to be in a benevolent mood.
The grass does like the wet. Rather, it embraces it with an abandon that makes it extremely difficult to pry the two apart. You see, the thing grows on account of water. Its survival instinct demands it retains as much as it needs. This nature of the green stuff is looking to sabotage the survival of this tie on grass courts.
Experts from South Club, Kolkata, have been here for close to two weeks. They have painstakingly worked on getting the court to behave the way the Indian players want. The fellows even got their choice of manure all the way. And they had done a real fine job too. But now, they may well be helpless in the face of the weather.
TRICKY TIMING
This brings us to the question as to why was the tie planned on grass in the monsoon season. That apart, the other moot point, perhaps even more so, is the lack of planning to protect the court from the rains. Grass court covers need to be lifted above the surface as that ensures ventilation and prevents the covers’ ‘sweat’ from trickling down to the surface. Remember those Wimbledon covers during the many rain delays this edition? Right, those are just the kind of covers we don’t have in Chandigarh.
Then, there is the super sopper. A machine with big sponges, the sopper is said to have been hired from the local cricket association at the cost of `10,000 per day. One is not sure if it’s going to be super effective.
International Tennis Federation rules stipulate that in case of paucity of playing time on account of hindrances like rain, two singles and the doubles can be held on the same day. There is also a provision to extend the tie by one day.
Rain stopped around 10 am on Thursday and the clouds held their peace till the evening. As such, the grass got a fair chance of drying in the breeze that picked up in the afternoon. The ground is still damp but if it does not rain overnight, play is possible on Friday. So, while it’s real wet here in Chandigarh, the gentlemen from South Club have been known to work miracles in the past. Just that one is not sure if they have Indra on speed dial.