RCB vs KKR, IPL 2025: Chinnaswamy Stadium drainage system in focus with rain threat over Bengaluru vs Kolkata match
As IPL 2025 gears up for resumption following a brief suspension, the encounter between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders on May 17 is under threat of disruption with several weather forecasts predicting severe rains in Bengaluru.
What happens if the RCB vs KKR game is washed out?
RCB is currently placed second on the IPL 2025 points table with 16 points from 11 matches. If the game against KKR is abandoned, RCB will gain a solitary point and move one step closer to qualification for the Playoff stage. Mathematically, the side requires one win to seal a top-four spot.
A point will not be enough to sustain KKR's slim chances of making it through. The side will be two points away from the top four with only one game left to play.
How good is Chinnaswamy's drainage system?
The Chinnaswamy Stadium is renowned for its high-quality drainage system, considered the best in the country. The SubAir system can prepare the ground for play just 15 minutes after the rain stops, no matter how heavy it has been.
The sub-surface aeration and vacuum-powered drainage system, built by SubAir Systems, was introduced in 2017 and can evacuate water from the ground at a rate of 10,000 litres per minute.
The system's effectiveness was evident in the 2023 IPL season, when RCB and Gujarat Titans completed a full match despite heavy rain.
'The ICC delegation [ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup] that visited the stadium was most impressed with the SubAir system. Even a big puddle disappears in seconds; it works like magic,' said KSCA vice president B.K. Sampath Kumar last year.
The system was built at a total cost of around Rs. 4.25 crore, with around 4.5 kilometres of pipe length being put into use.
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