The unseasonal downpour on Monday ended up ruining an entire day for well over 8000 citizens of Ghaziabad, who had gathered for first day’s play of the UP-Baroda Ranji Trophy match.

The roads leading out of Delhi had images of Suresh Raina punching off the backfoot and Sudeep Tyagi into his follow-through to promote the match. While the fans queuing up outside the Mohan Meakins ground hoped for three dimensional versions of the posters, they ended up watching the pitch as it took centre stage for over five hours.

The first inspection at 9 am rendred the wicket too damp to play on. Blankets and cushions were summoned to soak up the moisture an hour later, followed by a series of operations including putting either ends of the pitch on fire.

Baroda coach Paras Mhambrey decided to keep his players fit with a game of football, and the UP team followed soon after. RP Singh, Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan entertained the crowd with footwork of a different kind while Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla examined the centre-field pyrotechnics.

The match was officially called off after the final inspection at 2 pm.