ISL: Rain may hit Chennaiyin FC-Kerala Blasters tie

CHENNAI: The rain hasn't stopped here and it will need a miracle for Chennaiyin FC's first home match to take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium against Kerala Blasters on Tuesday.
When the teams reached the stadium on Monday evening for practice, they were in for a rude shock. They had to walk through knee-deep water at the entrance and the Kerala players started laughing, taking photographs on their mobile phones.
The pitch has taken a beating and despite the best efforts of the groundsmen, things don't look good till late Monday. "We can try and get the ground ready, but for that the rain has to stop. It doesn't look good at the moment," an official said.
If the match is washed out, the teams will get one point each.
The teams, though, are still hoping that the weather will clear and there will be a game on Tuesday. Chennaiyin FC, who are desperately short of practice at home, had made a good start to the tournament, beating FC Goa 2-1 while Kerala lost their first game 0-1 to NorthEast United FC.
Bojan Djordjic, the Chennai captain, spoke of how he is looking forward to this game. "It's the dream for any player to perform in front of the home crowd in a full stadium," he said.
Balwant, the first Indian goal scorer in the ISL, is also looking forward to the game, hoping to beat former England keeper David James under the bar. "I don't look at the reputation of the goalie, my only job is to score and I will try to do that," he said.
Kerala, on the other hand, will look to bounce back from a defeat. If former Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra is fit, the club could step up its attacks.
Scot Iain Hume did show signs of brilliance in the first game, but he will face tougher opposition on Tuesday, provided there is a game.
Kerala, too, are short of practice and captain James spoke about that. "The practice pitch was like a swimming pool. The stadium pitch looked better, let's see what happens," a worried James said.
There were big preparations surrounding the game with all the four Bachchans, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and many other celebrities expected to be present for the game. But with the weather refusing to relent, the fans might have to wait for some more time to see the stars from close range.