It was a wet blanket on fan enthusiasm at Chinnaswamy

Groundsmen covering the pitch during the final T20I between India and the West Indies at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on October 17, 2026. | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

It was after two years that an international fixture returned to Bengaluru’s iconic M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. And the common factor between the previous international match at the venue (October 16, 2024) and Saturday’s fixture, as any cricket fan could guess, was anticipation of rain. With one crucial difference — while the 2024 match ended in a result, the 2026 one had to be abandoned midway with rain playing spoilsport. What had promised to be a high-voltage series decider between India and the West Indies had to be abandoned with rains coming thick and strong. Earlier in the day, fans had braved intermittent rains and Bengaluru’s nightmare traffic to reach the venue. By sunset on Saturday, thousands of cricket fans thronged Queens Road and M.G. Road, donning India jerseys and creating a sea of blue around the stadium. Traffic crawled along waterlogged Queens Road, but the police barricading ensured that fans did not spill over onto the road to further exacerbate it, facilitating the smooth movement of vehicles.