A saturated outfield and further heavy rain limited play to just 22 overs with the West Indies reaching 62 for two after choosing to bat first against India on the opening day of the fourth and final Test at the Queen’s Park Oval on Thursday.
Prospects of uninterrupted play for the remainder of the match look grim with a forecast of more isolated showers over the next four days.
Since the first Test match was played at the venue in 1930, this is the first time that any international fixture is being played there after the month of June, which represent the official start of the rainy season in the Caribbean.
Go to Bed People..Play called off for the day #WIvIND #Rain 4th Test pic.twitter.com/jFdVthEPy8
— Aiyappa CG (@yaps9) August 18, 2016
India’s selectors made an interesting decision in opting for an extra batsman instead of a fifth bowler for the first time in the series.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who only made his first appearance in the series a week earlier, was dropped to accommodate the return of phlegmatic middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara. There was an additional adjustment to the batting line-up as Murali Vijay, ruled out of the last two Tests with a thumb injury, slotted back into the top of the order in place of the out-of-form Shikhar Dhawan.