Chennai wet and watch

As Friday saw the third consecutive international game affected by the October-December monsoon — the first day’s play abandoned due to torrential rains that threaten to make this a three-day Test — Chennai is losing its patience. Not everybody is merely tearing tickets and walking out. There are people like Suresh Babu and D. Lingeshwaran who are moving from the stadium to the courts.

In their early 30s, businessman Babu and advocate Lingeshwaran have filed a suit at the city Civil Court against the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) seeking a permanent injunction on the Chepauk, from it getting any international games between October to December.

There’s is a plea that is common to every cricket fans in Chennai who comes to Chepauk with an umbrella tucked under his arm.

The cricket fan in advocate Lingeshwaran flares up as he says, ‘‘In the last two games India were in a winning position — 130/1 in the ODI against New Zealand in October, 2003 and 229 to win the Test against Australia in October, 2004 — but because of the rains we returned home quite glum.’’ It was the multi-tasking businessman Babu who came up with this idea of going to the court.

‘‘We have had enough. Every year the northeast monsoon hits Chennai and everybody knows it expect for maybe the TNCA and the BCCI,’’ he says.

So sure are they about the northast monsoon that even before the India-Sri Lanka Test started they had prayed for an interim injunction before the court to stop ticket sales. The court dismissed the petition but it seems like a moral victory for Babu seeing the water-logged field on Day One.

The TNCA has once again gone into a shell. Secretary Vijay Bhaskaran does pick up the phone but his answer isn’t convincing.

‘‘We have decided not to comment on this issue. There are still four days to go.’’ So either he will come up with a better answer in the coming days or there will be play.

‘‘In court the TNCA said that its hands were tied since venue selection depends on the BCCI’s rotational policy,” said Lingeshwaran. But the chairman of the new fixtures committee, Shashank Manohar — who like the TNCA president and BCCI treasurer N Srinivasan is in the Sharad Pawar camp — points to a clause that the TNCA missed.

‘‘In case any association is not in a position to host a match for whatever reason, they can swap their turn with a centre that is willing to host the game. This is an old clause and everybody is aware of it,’’ he says.

But the BCCI washes it hands of this issue as Manohar adds: ‘‘The committee can’t step forward and deny a game to any association.’’