India vs New Zealand 2024 Bengaluru weather report: Will rain ruin 1st Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium

Team India are getting ready to begin their three-match Test series against former World Test Championship (WTC) winners New Zealand at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium from Wednesday (October 16). Rohit Sharma’s Indian cricket team are on a roll, having whitewashed Bangladesh in the two-match Test series before this followed by a 3-0 whitewash of the same opponents in the T20I series.

New Zealand, on the other hand, suffered a whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka before heading to India. They have a new skipper in charge with Tom Latham taking over from pacer Tim Southee, who stepped down after the series whitewash.

However, the weather in Bengaluru hasn’t been too kind with both teams in the build-up to this Test match. Overcast skies and rain, a couple of days before the 1st Test forced the visitors to train indoors in Bengaluru.

The weather prediction of the five days of the Test, beginning on October 16, is not looking very promising either. On the first two days of the Test match on Wednesday and Thursday, the weather department is predicting a more than 40 per cent chance of rain with partly cloudy skies followed by thunderstorms.

The weather prediction for Friday, October 18, is most gloomy with a 67 per cent chance of rain with showers as well as thunderstorms predicted in the capital city of Karnataka. The weather is scheduled to improve on Day 4 on Saturday with only a 25 per cent chance of rain although it will be another cloudy day.

Check weather prediction for Bengaluru for 1st Test between India and New Zealand HERE…

However, on the final day of the 1st Test on Monday, there is once again a 40 per cent prediction of rain with thunderstorms scheduled for early in the day. Team India had to deal with rain in Kanpur during the 2nd Test vs Bangladesh as well.

Nearly three days’ play was washed out in the Kanpur earlier this month and India were only able to win this Test match thanks to Rohit Sharma’s aggressive captaincy and India’s uber-aggressive batting on Day 4 of the Test.

Meanwhile, New Zealand and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Rachin Ravindra said on Monday that nullifying the twin threat posed by senior spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will be crucial to New Zealand’s success in the three-match series against India. Ashwin and Jadeja together have grabbed over 800 Test wickets, and are among the most experienced bowling pairs in world cricket at present.

“They’ve got consistent bowlers who bowl in an area for a long period of time. I mean, you see the two spinners who play consistently, Ashwin and Jadeja, they’re two very accomplished bowlers. You know, they can bat too, which makes it a little bit hard,” Ravindra told reporters in Bengaluru on Monday.

“They’re consistent, they’re good to battle, especially in this part of the world. Obviously, we know how good India are in their own conditions, the quality of their bowlers and batters. It shows how hard it is for a team to come and win here. So, it’s difficult,” he added.