Nearly three hours after spectators filed into Lucknow's Ekana stadium, the India-South Africa T20I was inevitably abandoned on Wednesday, done in by excessive fog and poor air quality.
Former India batter Robin Uthappa, on commentary duty, was left unimpressed and was scathing in his assessment of how the evening was handled.
The toss, scheduled for 6:30 pm, never happened. Low visibility forced the umpires into a holding pattern, with six inspections carried out at 30-minute intervals.
Each check brought little change, until the final inspection at 9:30 pm confirmed the inevitable.
It was the first time an international match in India was abandoned due to excessive fog.
What baffled Uthappa, who was on commentary duty, was not the decision to call off the game, but the delay in arriving at it.
'I'm actually not even listening to you because I'm so befuddled by the umpire's decision,' Uthappa said on JioHotstar.
'How do they think it's going to get better as the night wears on? It's not going to get better, it's only going to get worse... What do they think will happen in half an hour that hasn't happened over the last hour-and-a-half?'
The scene in the middle reflected the uncertainty. This was the first night T20I scheduled at the Ekana stadium in December.
In the stands, patience thinned. As the delays dragged on, sections of the crowd began to leave. A few disgruntled fans, seated near one of the cow-corner giant screens, made their displeasure known by throwing paper and plastic objects onto the field.
Uthappa was not the only commentator baffled. South Africa pace great Dale Steyn, also on commentary, admitted he was unsure what exactly the umpires were evaluating during each inspection as visibility continued to drop.
'I don't know all the rules they are looking at,' Steyn said.
'As a player, you just play the game. It would be informative to know what they are assessing and thinking... As a former player, I feel we could play in this, but obviously there's something in the rules that I'm not fully aware of.'
Uthappa, unconvinced, doubled down.
'I've played first-class games in far worse conditions, with a lot more fog,' he said. 'This is way better than that. I don't see it getting better.'
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