Rajasthan were treading cautiously at 102 for three before rain played spoilsport on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A cricket clash against Bengal here today.
The visitors faced 43.2 overs before heavens opened up at the Eden Gardens. Vineet Saxena was unbeaten on 31 with Puneet Yadav who was yet to open his account when the day's proceedings were called off.
Hosting its first Ranji match of the season exactly a week after the India-South Africa T20I was washed out without a ball being bowled because of a wet outfield, a grim and unpleasant sight was once again witnessed at the venue scheduled to host the World Twenty20 final in less than six months' time.
In the seventh over after lunch around 12.45pm, it started drizzling for about five minutes before it began to pour in. The 30 groundsmen present without a head curator struggled to cover the entire field and water spilled on to the ground.
The areas near the sight screen at the pavillion end had pools of water and it was a matter of time before umpires Rajesh Despande, Navdeep Singh and Mach Match Referee S Sarath called off the day's proceedings after their second inspection at 3pm.
For Bengal, former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha took two wickets for 24 from his 14 overs after Veer Pratap Singh gave the breakthrough in the sixth over after Rajasthan elected to bat.
With the Eden's chief curator Prabir Mukherjee adamant on not coming back to the Eden after the India-South Africa fiasco, there was no head curator.
The grounds committee chairman Debabrata Mukherjee, along with Mukherjee's assistant Shankarshan Pal, were seen instructing the groundsmen, who could not handle the downpour.
Former CAB joint secretary and curator Sujan Mukherjee, who is in-charge of the Kalyani Stadium at its academy, shrugged the responsibility.
"I'm not looking after the ground... It's being managed by (East Zone curator) Asish Bhowmick. I cannot comment," Mukherjee said.
The day coincided with Sourav Ganguly becoming the CAB president at its Special General Meeting and the former India captain, clad in a grey suit, was seen getting on the drenched field and taking stock of the situation.
Brief Scores
Rajasthan: 102/3; 43.2 overs (Ashok Maneria 40, Vineet Saxena 31 batting; Pragyan Ojha 2/24) vs Bengal.
