World Cup: Chepauk Stadium imports four super-soppers to cut rain threat during India-Australia tie

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) is leaving no stone unturned in its effort to ensure a smooth hosting of India's World Cup 2023 opener against Australia on Sunday (Oct 8) at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. With rain lashing the capital city in the past few weeks, the TNCA has imported four new super-soppers from Australia to avoid a washout situation.

Though the rain threat is cut down significantly in the lead-up to the high-octane clash, with the MET department predicting only a 10 per cent chance of thunderstorms on game day, completely discounting chances of showers would be a mistake.

Over the past three weeks, widespread rains in Chennai forced TNCA to postpone its league matches, with the scenario not changing over the recent weekend as matches scheduled on Saturday and Sunday took place on Monday.

Since only a few days are left before the match gets underway in Chennai, the TNCA officials claim to take every possible precaution to curb the rain threat.

"We have bought four new advanced super-soppers for the World Cup because we don’t want to take any chances. We have also replaced all the old covers with new ones, including heavy ones so that we have all bases covered," a TNCA official said, as quoted by the Indian Express.

Outside of the big India vs. Australia game, Chennai will host four more matches. Per the report, three pitches are being prepared for India's first CWC match, while the final call will be taken 48 hours before the start of the game. On Monday, the ground staff at the Chepauk stadium was busy giving final touches to the surfaces.

Per the ground staff, the outfield has remained dry despite the rains, cutting down the toss factor. Historically, the Chepauk stadium favours spinners, with stats revealing only five 300-plus totals scored at the venue in ODIs. India hasn't scored 300 or more at this venue.

Meanwhile, India and Australia are two frontrunners for the CWC title, with both teams possessing match winners in bulk.

While Australia will have Adam Zampa as the lone spinner for their campaign, India roped in Ravi Ashwin as the injured Axar Patel's replacement. India is likely to play all three - Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav.

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