After three days of waiting, play finally got underway at the M A Chidambaram in Chennai, on Monday, the penultimate day of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka.
India struggled to 90 for two in 32.3 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat.
The batting strip proved to be a nightmare for the batsmen as the ball kept unusually low, not affording them any leeway.
Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar concentrated hard and rallied India with a 45-run unbeaten partnership after Chaminda Vaas got two quick wickets.
India lost Gautam Gambhir cheaply and Virender Sehwag dispelled the demons for a while as he hit an attacking 36 in 28 balls, inclusive of seven fours. But after his dismissal the runs came at a crawling pace and the Sri Lankan bowlers tightened their grip.
Dravid and Tendulkar were unbeaten on 30 and 11 respectively when play was called off due to bad light.
The hosts also put to rest all the speculation surrounding Sourav Ganguly by picking the former captain in the playing eleven. Also making an India comeback was leg-spinner Anil Kumble.
India innings:
After lying under the covers for the better part of three days of the Test, the pitch was a mystery. It scorched under the sun on the fourth afternoon and looked bone dry as cricket got underway on the penultimate day.
As it turned out, it played nothing like a first-day wicket, had a deathly pale and provided variable bounce.
Opening bat Sehwag opened his account with two booming drives through cover off Dilhara Fernando and picked 13 runs in the second over of the day.
Vaas kept the ball fuller than his bowling partner and was rewarded with the wicket of Gambhir. The left-hander was bowled without scoring a run, off a delivery that kept low and swung in after pitching on the middle and leg stump. (13-1, 2.1)
Though captain Dravid struggled to get off the mark, his deputy kept up the scoring, going after the bowlers as if it were a limited-overs' game. As Fernando failed to keep the ball fuller and take advantage of the slowness of the pitch, Sehwag cut and pulled him fiercely to indulge the small pockets of crowd in the revelry.
But just like his one-day knocks in the ODI twin series, his innings was cut short abruptly on 36.
The experienced Vaas was harder to get away with as he angled the ball well away from the batsman after hitting good length. He drew Sehwag into the drive by pitching the ball just outside off-stump and captain Marvan Atapattu leapt from short-cover to complete the catch. (45-2, 8.5)
The Sri Lankan captain had placed the fielders closer to the wicket than usual, bringing himself in at the short-cover position for Vaas, anticipating a mistimed drive.
With the initial hardness gone, the ball lost its spring and it looked like it would need a ladder to get up to the batsmen's knees. The lack of bounce was evident by the fact that wicketkeeper Kumara Sangakkara stood up to Vaas in the first spell itself, and Muttiah Muralitharan was introduced into the attack in the eighth over.
Understandably, there were a lot of bottom edges, especially off the prolific off-spinner, as two of India's best batsmen -- Dravid and Tendulkar -- tried to get a grip of the situation.
Tendulkar, on the verge of becoming Test cricket's highest century-maker, scored eight runs from the first 50 balls he faced. With the master batsman playing close to his pads, Muralitharan had four fielders around the bat at slip, leg slip, silly point and forward short-leg.
The Indian batsmen were cautious in their approach and concentrated hard, playing the ball very late. Though the match was effectively stripped of a result by the thunderstorms in Chennai, India couldn't afford to hand the visitors the edge at the start of the series.
From overs 20 to 30, India scored only 14 runs but, importantly, kept the wickets intact. Any new batsman coming in would find it difficult to adjust to the wicket and the artificial lights, on to make up for the lost time.
But floodlights didn't proved a viable option with the red ball and play was called off after 32.3 overs after the batsmen were offered light.
At the close of play, Dravid was looking solid on 30 (95b, 3x4) and Tendulkar kept up the fight, unbeaten on 11 (69b).
Though half the job was done for the Sri Lankan bowlers by the wicket, Vaas used the conditions well for figures of two for 15 in ten overs. Muralitharan went wicketless in his 10.3 overs and conceded 20 runs.
